HimVani
Shimla: Nathpa-Jhakri hydro-power project has lost around Rs 63 crore in revenue as power generation remained shut for the 7th consecutive day, creating crisis in the entire north region. Sources said chances of immediate restarting of the turbines are bleak as more silt has been coming down from the catchment areas of Satluj river because of heavy rains.
The project was started on Tuesday evening at around 1900hrs but because of heavy silt again, the generation had to be stopped after only few hours, said Vijay Verma, deputy general manager (DGM) of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL), the company running the 1500 MW project. Punjab would be the worst affected as besides receiving 114 MW of power directly from the project, it buys major amount of electricity from Himachal’s share of 546 MW from the project.
The closure of project has also caused loss of Rs 5 crore per day for the Himachal government who sells its share to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi at the rate of Rs 5.10 per unit, said an official of the power department of government. Sources said that it could take another two to three days to resume power generation.
