Engineering firm HCC today said it has completed the construction of first 14.75 km tunnel in the Himalayan terrain that will carry water from Kishanganga dam for a 330 MW hydro project being developed on it.
This project is a part of the 23.65 km long Headrace tunnel, which will carry the water from dam to the project being developed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), a release issued here said.
"HCC has completed the first tunnel using the tunnel boring machine," it said.
The 330 MW Kishanganga hydro project is located on river Kishanganga, a tributary of river Jhelum, in Bandipore district of Jammu & Kashmir. HCC and the UK-based Halcrow Group are jointly executing the project worth Rs 2,726.49 crore.
The project involves transfer of water of Kishanganga river in Gurez valley to Bonar nallah near Bandipore in Kashmir valley.
"Using tunnel boring machine in young Himalayan mountains poses various geological and technical challenges. But we took this challenge and with meticulous planning and precise execution managed to overcome all hurdles to complete the tunnel well ahead of time," HCC Project Manager A I Benny said.
The release further said the remaining 8.9 km tunnel is being constructed by conventional drill and blast method.
