Torrential rain first punished Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam with a deluge of misery. Only to subsequently gift the government-owned corporation with a bounty of power.
On the Independence Day, top officials of 2001-founded hydro power major got worried when heavy downpour in the hills brought brought a huge amount of silt into the catchment area. That forced UJVN, which produces 20 million units of electricity on an average, to shut all its power houses on August 16 and 17. Result: their functioning came to a grinding halt.
But thereafter, UJVN experienced a happy turnaround. With more rains and increased water storage, August 19 turned out to be a day to rejoice as the company registered its highest-ever daily generation of 22.502 million units. The closest the company had recorded the highest generation of 21.9 million units in October last year.
This is for the first time that the 198-Mw Ramganga multi-purpose hydel project started power production as early as in August — courtesy, excessive rains. Normally, the Ramganga project starts power generation only in October when monsoon rains end in the hills that define the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.
In the previous years, UJVN’s average power generation during August-September remained at 18-19 million units per day. This time, as B C K Mishra, director (operation) of UJVN, notes, heavy rains have turned out to be boon for Ramganga and other hydel projects of the company. “The water level in the Ramganga reservoir has already reached 340 meter. It is helping us produce 4 million units on an average every day,” he says, reasoning why UJVN’s power generation has broken all previous records.
Last year’s monsoon too gave the region heavy rains — in September — and wrecked havoc across Uttarakhand. “This time, the rains have come in August. The reservoirs of our projects are overflowing,” points out Mishra.
Both Maneribhali I and II (394 Mw) are producing are running full steam and producing 6 million units on an average per day.
On the other hand, THDCIL officials also claimed that the 1400 Mw Tehri project has been able to check the menace of floods in Ganga. “We usually release waters from Tehri reservoir in a controlled manner which effectively checks floods in the plains,” said the THDCIL official.
As the UJVN registered a record power generation this year, it has also brought back the issue of the sluggishness in the hydropower sector especially after three major projects — NTPC’s 600 Mw Loharinag Pala, UJVN’s 480 Mw Pala Maneri and 380 mw Bhaironghati were scrapped. “Water is our natural resource and we must harness it.
It is very unfortunate that our two major projects were scrapped,” said Avadhash Kaushal, a social activist, who had bitterly opposed the government’s move to stop hydel projects in the state.
On Independence Day, top officials of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam, the main power generation government-run company, were worried a lot. Reason: Torrential rains in the hills that brought heavy floods and silt.
In the next two days, (Aug 16 and 17), the UJVN, that produces 20 million units on an average, w0as forced to shut all its power houses following which the electricity generation came to a grinding halt.
But thereafter, it was a turnaround for the UJVN. And August 19 virtually turned out to be a Good Friday with the company registering a highest ever generation of 22.502 million units thanks to heavy rains again.
In the previous occasion, the company had recorded the highest generation of 21.9 million units in October last year.
This is for the first time that 198 Mw Ramganga multi-purpose hydel project has started power production in August itself due to excessive rains. Normally, Ramganga projects starts power generation in October only when monsoon rains end in the hills.
In the previous years, average power generation of UJVN in the months of August-September remained at 18-19 M units per day.
“Heavy rains are turning out to be boon in disguise as far as Ramganga and other hydel projects are concerned. The water level of the Ramganga reservoir has already reached 340 meter due to which we are producing 4 million units on an average every day. This is the main reason as to why the power generation of UJVN has broken all previous records,” said B C K Mishra, Director (Operation) of UJVN.
Last year also, heavy rains had created havoc in Uttarakhand but that was only in September. “This year, we are experiencing heavy rains in August due to which the reservoirs of our projects are overflowing,” said Mishra.
Both Maneribhali I and II (394 Mw) are producing are running full steam and producing 6 million units on an average per day.
On the other hand, THDCIL officials also claimed that the 1400 Mw Tehri project has been able to check the menace of floods in Ganga. “We usually release waters from Tehri reservoir in a controlled manner which effectively checks floods in the plains,” said the THDCIL official.
As the UJVN registered a record power generation this year, it has also brought back the issue of the sluggishness in the hydropower sector especially after three major projects — NTPC’s 600 Mw Loharinag Pala, UJVN’s 480 Mw Pala Maneri and 380 mw Bhaironghati were scrapped. “Water is our natural resource and we must harness it.
It is very unfortunate that our two major projects were scrapped,” said Avadhash Kaushal, a social activist, who had bitterly opposed the government’s move to stop hydel projects in the state.
