It is a normal feature of hilly areas to have hydro power stations. But, it is not that common to come across a museum on such stations. This is what Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) has done in Kundah, which is located about 35 km from Udhagamandalam, The Nilgiris district.
The museum, established on the initiative of a team of enterprising officials, is special not just because it displays numerous old, rare machines used in the electricity sector over the years but also certain types of content relevant to the situation in Tamil Nadu, which has witnessed a series of agitations in the last two months.
Expert articles
For instance, the museum prominently exhibits an article authored by H.G. Howard, an engineer who took momentous steps in the 1920s and 1930s to tap hydro power in a big way.
The article titled The Pykara Scheme: What Hydro Electric Power means to Madras, was published by The Hindu in 1929. Referring to opposition to the scheme in certain quarters, the author explained how the scheme would be beneficial to the State, which was then known as Madras, and cited international and Indian examples of harnessing hydro electricity in support of his stand.
Apart from electrical instruments such as pressure recorders and flow meters which should be educative to engineering students, one can find clocks and telephone instruments of the different periods at the museum. “The oldest clock belongs to early 1930s,” says S. Raghu, superintending engineer. Even then, there existed pre-paid meter for electricity consumption, which were installed at the premises of consumers. The museum has one, he points out. These vestiges were all manufactured in London.
Unique photographs
The museum has one section, dealing with photographs collected by engineers in the last 50 years. It has a collection of photographs of hydro power stations in the United States and Canada, all of which belonged to V.P. Appadurai, one of the celebrated engineers and chairpersons of the erstwhile Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.
A visual presentation of various stages of the construction of the Emerald power station — from foundation to commissioning — forms part of the museum, which has not yet been formally inaugurated.
