Shimla, Aug 12 (IANS) The country’s biggest hydropower plant in Himachal Pradesh remained shut for the eighth day Thursday due to the high silt level in the Sutlej river, triggering a power crisis in the northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
The silt level in the river on which the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri power project is located was still higher than the permissible limit, Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL) deputy general manager Vijay Verma told IANS.
He said in the past eight days, the plant operated only for a few hours and that too in the past three days.
‘Generation cannot be resumed till the silt content comes down. Continuous rainfall in the catchment area is responsible for high silt,’ he added.
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 stoppage of power generation is causing 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.
