With heavy rain lashing the State, hydroelectric power projects have been damaged resulting in significant reduction in power generation.
Landslides triggered by the downpour filled the barrage site of the 400-MW Vishnuprayag hydroelectric project and the power generation was brought to a halt on June 26. According to the Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre reports, the power generation will restart on July 12. Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), in his report titled ‘Why Vishnuprayag and other Uttarakhand Hydro Projects continue to be affected two years after the June 2013 disaster’ states that the power generation in the Vishnuprayag project came to a halt for 17 days due to silt deposition after rainfall and landslides, resulting in a loss of 10 million units (MU) of power per day.
Mr. Thakkar’s report also points to significant reduction in power generation in many projects, including 13 projects of the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) where for a few days the generation was reduced to half the expected output.
