Tripartite talks on Kishau project soon

For the 600 Mw Kishau hydel project, which has been in limbo for the past few years, there may be light at the end of the tunnel now.

A tripartite meeting between representatives of the governments of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) on the Kishau multipurpose hydel project on the river Tons near here will shortly be convened to prepare its detailed project report (DPR).

The project cost is being estimated at Rs 3,600 crore.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister B C Khanduri here today where THDC officials also made a presentation on the project. THDC Chairman and Managing Director R S T Sai, along with other top company officials, was present during the meeting.

The DPR will be prepared by the THDC, which has already completed the first phase of the mega 2,400 Mw Tehri hydro plant.

"We will be shortly convening a tripartite meeting on the Kishau project," Additional Power Secretary C Bhaskar said. At the meeting, Khanduri told the officials to expedite the process of preparing the DPR, which would be built in the Kishau area of Dehra Dun district.

Since some of the areas of Himachal Pradesh would be submerged in the reservoir of the dam, the consent of that state was necessary for preparing the DPR, Bhaskar said.

The project will irrigate nearly six states "" Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Delhi would get the maximum benefit since it would also get drinking water from it, officials here said.

THDC officials here said the dam would also help in regulating water supply to the projects which are on the downstream of the river.