Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday dedicated the 450-mw Baglihar Hydro Electric Power Project to the nation and said that it would give an impetus to the journey of development. The project will also prove to be a step towards safeguarding the environment for upcoming generations, he added.
Modi, along with Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Union Transport Minister Nitik Gadkari and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh, inaugurated the second phase of the 450-mw Baglihar power project here on Saturday. He also laid the foundation stone for four-lane high project in two sectors of the Udhampur-Ramban and Ramban-Banihal sections.
“Today, the electricity project which is inaugurated, the electricity which will be generated will not only give an impetus to the journey of development but also be a step towards safeguarding the environment for the upcoming generations,” Modi said while addressing a rally soon after the commissioning of the project.
According to the details of the project, the 450-mw (3X150 mw) Baglihar Hydro Electric Project stage-II is the second in the series of Baglihar projects. Stage-I of the project of similar installed capacity was commissioned in 2008.
The project is located in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir on Jammu-Srinagar national highway-1A on the Nashri by-pass road, 150 km from Jammu city. The project area lies in mountainous and rugged terrain of the middle Himalayas with the relief ranging from 700 meter at the river bed level to a maximum of 3,020 meter. It is a run of the river scheme on Chenab. The EPC contract was signed on March 31, 2012 and the project has been commissioned as per the target of September, 2015.
Different components of the project include the 143 meter high concrete gravity dam (already constructed in stage-I) with 362.862 meter top length. The design discharge of the project is 430 cumecs, which is diverted from the reservoir through an intake structure into a 10.15 meter diameter concrete lined circular head race tunnel 1,888 meter long and a 27.50-meter diameter concrete lined surge shaft of 79.5 meter height (above orifice level).
From the surge shaft, water flows through three 5.5 meter diameter steel lined pressure shafts and then to three turbines. After generation of power, water is led back to river Chenab through draft tubes, downstream surge chamber, collection gallery and 350 meter long tail race tunnel.
The project will generate power between May and September every year. Annual generation from the Stage-II project will be about 1,302 million units.