Suhail Bhat
BANDIPORA, May 11: The Kishanganga Hydroelectric power project in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district has been leaking water from the mountain whereon its dam is located since the trial run for the first unit was held, bringing misery to the nearby villages.
The excessive water leakage has threatened the nearby orchards and left the houses vulnerable to collapse. The excessive water would gradually turn the land barren and deprive locals of their source of income.
Located on the river Kishangana, a tributary of Jhelum in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district, the three units of the 340 MW project will generate 1350 million units of electricity annually.
An official at the Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC), which owns the project, said, that all the water was removed from the tunnel on April 20, after it developed seepage. “Despite drying the whole tunnel the water has not stopped and the reasons are yet to be known,” he said.
In order to inquire about the leakage of water a committee was constituted by the Deputy Commissioner of Bandipora and after several inspections, a report was prepared. “We have not read the report yet but the committee has submitted it. We will reveal the reasons of leakage after having a look at the report and will, subsequently, take a call on the compensation to orchardists and others who have been affected by the end of this week”, Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Hilal Sanie, said, adding the oozing of water has also decreased.
The orchardists, however, feared that the delayed inspection would not bear any results as the plants had already begun to die due to excessive water. “After the water starts oozing out of our orchard the flowers began to fall suggesting the failure of the crop. But now the plants are dying due to the excess water”, Mohammad Shafi orchardist said, adding for last 15-20 years he has raised the apple trees like her children but all was lost now.
The trial run for the first phase was held in March wherein one unit having a capacity of 110MW was made operational. Soon after the trial began, the “Head Race Tunnel” started leaking water which entered into the nearby village, Chak Mantrigam. “The residents immediately left the village for fear of getting washed away. They later came back after the gushing of water decreased,” a local who has been associated with the project since its inception, said, adding the seepage had only reduced in quantity because the stream had been diverted into nearby Pathankot stream.
“The officials of the Horticulture Department visited the orchards and said if water continues for 15 days, the trees will die as they cannot handle excess water”, Mudassir Azad, an orchardist said, adding more than one month has passed but water has not stopped.
Chief Horticulture Officer Bandipora, Mohammad Ramzan, when contacted said all was not lost and if seepage of water stops in next few weeks fruits would appear on trees this season. “We visited the place couple of times and all the flowers have not shed,” he said.
Not only are the orchards facing the threat, the houses in the area are also vulnerable to collapse as excessive seepage can damage their foundation. “Water is oozing out near our house. We have dug a temporary drainage around our house to avoid the possible damage,” Tanveer Ahmad Mir, a resident of Kralpora said, adding nearly 600 households were facing the threat.
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