Shimla, Aug 10 (IANS) The continuous inflow of silt in Satluj river in Himachal Pradesh kept the country’s biggest hydropower project closed for the sixth day Tuesday.
The silt level in the river on which the project is located was more than 7,000 ppm (parts per million), which was 3,000 ppm higher than the permissible limit, Vijay Verma, deputy general manager of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL), the company that runs the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri power project in Kinnaur district, told IANS.
The shutdown has hit power supply to Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
The generation in all the six turbines of 250 MW each was stopped as high silt could damage the turbines.
This is the fourth closure of the plant this fiscal. Earlier, the plant was closed for five days from July 26 due to rise in silt level.
The closure of power generation has caused a daily loss of Rs.9 crore.
The SJVNL, a joint venture between the centre and the state government, daily generates about 38 million units, which are supplied to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
