High silt level leads to closure of Nathpa Jhakri power plant

Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh), June 15 : High silt level in the River Satluj following heavy rains has prompted the authorities at the Nathpa Jhakri power project to close the plant so that the turbines could be protected from getting damaged.

The 1,500 Megawatt hydropower project in Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh, supplies electricity to the states of northern India, remained closed for the fifth consecutive day.

Officials said that the permissible limit of silt is 4000 parts per million (ppm), which had exceeded 7, 500 ppm when the plant was shut down.

While the losses on account of the plant shutdown accrue to over some billions of rupees, officials maintain that the plant will resume operations in a couple of days.

"The water level has increased by 20 per cent due to which the silt has increased, therefore as a measure of safety, we have closed the plant so as to save the turbine parts from getting damaged. Though we are incurring losses because of this shutdown, these losses are nothing as compared to what we would incur if the turbines get damaged," said N. C. Bansal, General Manager of the Nathpa Jhakri power Plant.

The power project located around 145 kilometers from Shimla, produces around 36 million units of electricity per day. The temporary shutdown has resulted in power shortage in many states of north India.

The project supplies electricity to the states of Punjab, Harayana, Uttrakhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh.

ANI