Nathpa loses Rs 80 crore due to Tibet flood threat

Due to the threat of flooding from the lake in Tibet, the 1,500-MW Nathpa-Jhakri project has suffered losses of over Rs 80 crore in 10 days, officials say.

The project, built at a cost of Rs 8,630 crore, on the Sutlej river in Himachal Pradesh, started operation on May 18 this year, with all its six units (each unit 250 MW) commencing production.

Officials are especially worried because Sutlej floods four years ago killed 150 persons and destroyed roads and bridges.

"The Nathpa project was pushed back by two years because of the floods in 2000. This itself caused a loss of Rs 3,000 crore," said V K Verma, spokesman of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL), which built the Nathpa project and is to build five more hydro projects in the Sutlej basin.

The red alert continues, as over 1,000 people living close to the river banks have been evacuated, largely in the tribal and mountainous district of Kinnaur, which borders Tibet.

"There was virtually no generation from August 6 to 17. The loss in revenue generation is Rs 8 crore for every 24 hours," Verma told Business Standard. "We have started generation in four of the six units of the project since 18 August," he said.

The project has been funded largely by the central government and the World Bank.