Security stepped up for country's biggest hydro power station in Himachal

Rampur (Himachal Pradesh), Aug.17 (ANI): Security has been beefed up around India's biggest 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station as a precautionary measure to avert any terrorist attack.

The central control of the Nathpa-Jhakri Power Station (NJPS) is under Central Industrial Security Force (CSIF). The station is now equipped with Close Circuit TV cameras, metal detectors and a bomb disposal squad.

"After the Bombay attack (26/11) we got the information that many hydro power stations are on terrorists' list. Keeping this threat in mind, we have decided that all the sensitive places in the 1500MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro power project will have CCTV cameras, which are now functional. The central control of it is with the Deputy Commandant of CSIF and one channel is in my office so that we can keep an eye on all the people coming here," says N C Bansal, General Manager of NJPS.

To enter the power station one has to go through three-tiered security check, which is managed by CISF (Central Industrial security Force). There are a total of 52 cameras installed in all the key points to check the movement of people working and coming to the station.

The station usually produces 6.6 billion units of power a year but this year it produced a record 1.14 billion units of power in the month July alone despite the drought-like condition.

The power station generates the electricity worth 1400 crore Indian rupees annually. This year this power station has generated the highest ever power Units despite the drought in the country.

NJPS provides power to the entire north Indian states of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

Nathpa-Jhakri Power Station (NJPS) is the biggest hydropower project, which produces 6.6 billion units of power a year.

The power plant in Rampur, nearly 140 kilometres from capital Shimla in the Himachal Pradesh state, is under a close surveillance to thwart any terrorist attack. (ANI)