At one point of time, power experts and authorities believed that planning mega power projects should be replaced by giving more importance to smaller projects because big projects take a long time to be completed during which there is cost escalation unbearable for the Power Development Department. Then the shift was made to smaller projects and various small projects were identified across the State. No fewer than nine projects including two smaller projects for Ladakh region name Dah and Hanu were prioritized and formally announced. The story of these two small power projects in the cold desert of Ladakh is a sordid example of inefficiency, incompetence and slackness of concerned authorities. In order to tap hydro power potential available in Leh district, the then Government decided to construct two projects—one each of 9 MW on tributaries of Indus River and accordingly on October 14, 2011 the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah laid foundation of these projects named as Dah and Hanu. It was officially announced at that time that both the projects would be completed within a period of 4 years at the cost of Rs 43.61 crore and Rs 41.67 crore respectively by the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation to meet the electricity requirement of Leh district. While presenting Power Budget for the Financial Year 2016-17 in the Legislative Assembly in May 2016 at Srinagar, the Finance Minister had announced that major components of 9 MW Dah and 9 MW Hanu projects were completed during 2015-16 financial year and both the projects would be commissioned by ending Financial Year 2016-17. This time frame has not been kept and contrary to ground situation, the Power Development Corporation claims that much of the work has been completed and the plants would be commissioned by November or December this year.
The question is that PDC has been trying to sell the idea that smaller power projects are advisable because of low cost and comparatively shorter period of time needed to make these functional. A power project that produces just 9 MWs of power is a very small enterprise though of course of great utility of the people for whom it has been envisioned. But if the PDC is not able to build the small power plant, it explodes the very concept of giving preference to smaller projects over the bigger ones. In practice, be it a small project or a big project, the PDC is essentially unable to meet the time frame. There is something inherently defective in the system and that has to be identified and rectified. We would like to remind the Power Development Corporation that it should have taken the geographical condition of Ladakh region into account when these two projects were decided. The region where the projects would be set up is a backward region and remains connected to the mainland for only six months in a year owing to its geographical location and cold winter. As such, prioritizing the two projects was a good decision. But it is the execution part where the PDC has performed dismally. Five years are a long time for a 9 MW project to come up. There was no paucity of funds and there was no shortage of technical manpower. Above all there was no dearth of labour force to work on these projects. Why then did not the projects meet the time line?
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