Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Nov 24: The Government today detected exaggeration of rehabilitation amount on account of construction of Kishanganga hydro-electric power project over river Jhelum in Gurez area of Bandipora district in the Kashmir valley to the tune of Rs 254 crores and recommended action against the then Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora and other staff of the Revenue Department.
It has also fixed December 2016 as the deadline for completion of 330 mw power project, which was conceived in 2000 but work on which was started in 2007. The work was marred due to frequent objections raised by Pakistan.
The detection of exaggeration of rehabilitation funds, claims taken by former MLA Hamidullah Khan illegally and other sensational revelations surfaced during the Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, Incharge Power and Development Department to review pace of work on the project here this evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had twice reviewed progress of Kishanganga power project during video conferencing with the Chief Secretary and desired its early completion.
Dr Singh told the Excelsior after the meeting that he has finally set the deadline for completion of the project as December 2016 and asked National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), the executing agency, to complete the work in time.
“The NHPC has assured that the work will be completed in December 2016,’’ Dr Singh said.
Official sources said some stunning revelations surfaced during the meeting. It was detected that the former Deputy Commissioner of Bandipora had exaggerated to Rs 254 crores instead of genuine Rs 147 crores for the rehabilitation claims of the families affected by construction of Kishanganga project in Gurez, Bandipora.
“The then Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora had tried to mislead the NHPC by exaggerating the claims with ulterior motives,’’ sources said, adding the Power Minister has recommended to the Cabinet for taking action against the then DC Bandipora and other staff of the Revenue Department.
Another fictitious claim worth Rs 10.6 lakh had been taken by former MLA Hamidullah Khan, sources said and added that the investigations have been ordered into the claim.
The Government has detected that out of 607 families, 185 were dislocated due to construction of Kishanganga hydro-electric project. Though compensation has been given to them, their rehabilitation was pending, which has been recommended.
The Kishanganga hydro-electric power project is part of a run-of-the-river scheme that is designed to divert water from the Kishanganga river, a power plant in the Jhelum river basin. It is located 5 kilometers north of Bandipora in Kashmir and will have an installed capacity of 330 MW.
Construction on the project formally began in 2007 though the project was conceived in 2000.
Construction on the dam was halted though by the Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration in October 2011 due to Pakistan’s protest of its effect on the flow of the Kishanganga river (called the Neelum River in Pakistan occupied Kashmir). In February 2013, the Hague ruled that India could divert a minimum amount of water for power generation.
The project includes a 37 m (121 ft) tall concrete-face rock-fill dam which will divert a portion of the Kishanganga River south through a 24 km (15 mi) tunnel. The tunnel is received by a surge chamber before sending water to the underground power house which contains 3 x 110 MW Pelton turbine-generators. After the power plant, water is discharged through a tail race channel into Wular Lake. The drop in elevation from the dam to the power station will afford a hydraulic head of 697 m (2,287 ft).
The CSC members who attended the meeting were Minister for Law, Relief and Rehabilitation, Syed Basharat Bukhari, Minister for Finance, Haseeb A Drabu, Minister for Forests, Bali Bhagat, Minister for CA&PD, Choudhary Zulfkar Ahmed and Minister for Revenue, Javed Mustafa Mir.
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