Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Thursday directed to maintain quality of work in all hydel projects being commissioned in the State besides fixing responsibility of the authorities concerned for the slackness. He also asked for safety audit of every project so that untoward incidents could be avoided in the project areas.
Presiding over a review meeting of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board ltd. (HPSEBl), HP Power Corporation (HPPCl) and HP Power Transmission Corporation ltd. (HPPTC), here, he said that the State had identified hydro potential 27436 MW out of which 10264 MW had been harnessed so far. He directed the authorities to complete the pending hydro projects in stipulated time to avoid cost escalation.
Virbhadra Singh expressed concern over delay in commissioning of hydel projects and said that target should be achieved well in time so that people could be benefited at the earliest.
He said 13.8 kilometer Bhoktu to Akpa line had been constructed and energised and the work of 34.970 km Akpa to Pooh line had also been completed. “All outlived transformers were being replaced in phased manner to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the consumers,” he said.
The Chief Minister also reviewed the progress of 100 MW Uhl stage-III, hydro electric project of Sanjay Vidyut Paryojna Bhaba Nagar in Kinnaur district, Rukti and Rong Tong projects, Sawra Kuddu project, Shongtong Karcham project, 130 MW Kashang stage-II and III and other projects.
“The matter of Renuka ji dam project would be raised with the Union Government for special project assistance which had been declared as project of national importance. The State Government had been consistently seeking funds to the tune of `1981.35 crore for this project,” he added.
The CM said HPPTCl was creating transmission network in the state with the help of around `2200 crore external aided funding from ADB under H.P. Clean Energy Transmission Investment Programme. This amount would be made available to the State as 90 percent grant and 10 percent loan.
He appreciated the efforts of the power executing agencies for providing uninterrupted and surplus energy in the State.
Additional Chief Secretary, MPP and Power, Tarun Shridhar detailed about the progress achieved in the power sector. He said all set targets had been achieved and efforts were on to complete the ongoing projects within stipulated period.
Chief Secretary P Mitra, Additional Chief Secretaries VC Pharka and Shrikant Baldi, MD, HPSEB PC Negi, MD, HPPCl DK Sharma, MD, HPPTCl Sl Sharma, Director, Directorate of Energy Ajay Sharma and other senior officers attended the meeting.
