Swedish Firm Hands Over Uri Project To Nhpc

The 480-mw Uri hydroelectric power plant was handed over to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) by the Swedish building giant Skanska at Rajerwarni in the border town of Uri in north Kashmir, 100 km from here.

The plant which was handed over on Tuesday has already started power generation, as two of the four turbines have been producing 240 mw of power since January this year. When fully operational, the project will produce 480 mw of power.

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda dedicated the project to the nation on February 13, 1997 when he switched on the first 120 mw unit.

 

The project director Stig Holmqvist said, Out from Uri will flow the greenest electricity ever the power project has built no dams, inundated no valleys, displaced no local inhabitants. The projects environmental fallout is minimal its water power is harnessed from the Himalayas natural fall- height.

He said Uri is an answer to every environmentalists prayer. Power is temporarily borrowed from the swift waters of the river Jhelum.

The water is taken underground, where the electricity is generated, and then restored to the river a couple of kilometres further down the project, director added.

In the course of his address, Holmqvist recalled the kidnapping of two engineers and other hitches which at one stage threatened the project and said the start of the project was severely delayed because the National Hydel Power Corporation had not resolved the land acquisition issues as per the terms of the agreement causing a delay of more than one and a half years.

Temporary workshops and storage facilities had to be erected during the long waiting period, he added.

Holmqvist said while these problems were being battled, the entire project was threatened by the kidnapping drama in 1991 when engineers Olle Loman and Johan Jansson were abducted and held hostage for 97 days.

As a result helicopter transport and armed guards had to be deployed to guarantee security at the project site.

While the threat from the guerrillas decreased because of the presence of security forces, another blow struck nearly paralysing the work the only cement factory in the region went on strike and shut down. Cement then had to be brought in from South India.

Transport, he said, has always been the key issue. It is the truckers who brought up 350,000 tonnes of cement, 34,000 tonnes of steel, 100,000 cubic metres of diesel, over 410 km through mountain passes at 200 metres height who are the virtual heroes as the nearest railway link stops in Jammu, 410 kms away from the project site.

He said while the technical aspects of the project and its related problems were familiar to the consortiums staff, what tested their perseverance was setting up and keeping telephone lines functional, building and keeping land routes operational and constructing everything from residential quarters to storage plants and workshops.

He said while the technical aspects of the project and its related problems were familiar to the consortiums staff, what tested their perseverance was setting up and keeping telephone lines functional, building and keeping land routes operational and constructing everything from residential quarters to storage plants and workshops.

The workforce consisted of around 220 Swedish personnel, 4,700 locals and a sprinkling from other participating countries, he said.

The most wonderful part of the project is that although two of the four turbines are already in commission since some months, the Jhelum runs through the valley in its customary majesty, unaware of having been exploited for obtaining power, he said.

The project was signed in 1989 between the Skanska-led consortium of other Swedish and European companies and NHPC and was scheduled for completion in mid-1997.

The consortium include Swedish NCC, ABB Sweco AB and Norwegian British having coordinated by Uri civil contractor which is controlled by Skanska and NCC on a 60-40 basis.