Ganderbal’s 15 MW hydel plant now producing just 2 MW

Ganderbal, Dec 26: The fall in water flow to one of the oldest hydel power projects in Ganderbal is adding to the woes of the people with the power generation dipping to just 2 MW.

One of the state’s oldest power projects and the first in the Ganderbal district – the Lower Sindh Hydroelectric Power Project commissioned in 1955 with a capacity of 15 MW is generating just 2 MW of electricity these days.

Officials said that the less flow of water had led to a nearly 70 percent dip in power generation and brought down the generating capacity from 15 MW to 2 MW only.

Executive Engineer Generation Ganderbal, Marir Chaudhary admitted that the power generation capacity of the power project had declined.

However, he said that all four units of the power project were working but the low discharge of water feeding the power project had resulted in the decline in power generation.

Chaudhary said that the water canal feeding the water supply to the power project was also the source of irrigation and resulted in less flow to the power project.

He said that if the supply was adequate, the power project could generate up to 10-12 MW of electricity.