It defies logic that twelve long years have not been enough to revive even a modest 9 MW hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir. The Sewa-III Hydroelectric Project in Mashka, Basohli-once commissioned with optimism in 2002-has been lying defunct since 2013, caught between files, floods, and a crippling bureaucratic paralysis. What should have been a swift restoration after flood-induced damage has instead turned into a case study in administrative apathy and inefficiency. The PDD and the J&K State Power Development Corporation have repeatedly demonstrated how procedural inertia can cripple essential infrastructure. A project that could have provided much-needed renewable power to the region has been left to decay while officials continued to shuffle papers and defer decisions. The DPR took nearly nine years to materialise-by which time the damage had worsened. Even after the DPR was finally submitted in 2022, the Board of Directors of JKSPDC chose to defer the matter yet again in 2023. As if to underline the consequences of such inaction, fresh floods in August 2025 dealt another blow to the already fragile infrastructure.
This endless cycle of neglect has far deeper implications than the fate of a single small project. The Sewa-III fiasco exposes the institutional inability of JKSPDC to handle even modest hydel ventures, casting doubt on its capacity to execute larger, more strategic projects. Twelve years without tangible progress reflect not just inefficiency but a systemic lack of accountability. The inability to prepare a timely and technically relevant DPR points to glaring gaps in planning, coordination, and professional competence within the corporation and the concerned departments. Beyond the administrative failures, what stands out as a critical lost opportunity is the underutilisation of the Ravi River’s hydropower potential on the J&K side. Every passing year of neglect allows valuable water resources to flow away unused.
If the Government is serious about reviving the Sewa-III project and strengthening local generation capacity, it must fix accountability at every level. The project’s delay has already embarrassed the UT’s power apparatus; allowing it to drift further would only confirm that systemic lethargy has triumphed over public interest. Twelve years is far too long a wait-for the people, for the project, and for the promise of local energy independence.
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