A delegation of BJP MPs from Himachal Pradesh has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought possession of 110 MW Shanan Power House, a British-era utility that is currently controlled by Punjab. Commissioned in 1932, the hydro-electric power station at Jogindernagar in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh is set to be handed over to the Himachal Pradesh Government after completion of 99-year lease in 2024.
“Punjab Government is continuously ignoring this power house. We demanded from the Prime Minister that the recommendations of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) recently submitted to ministry of power should be implemented immediately,” Ram Swaroop Sharma, MP from Mandi, said.
He added: “Since last 15 years Punjab Government is not taking care of the project and is on the verge of dying.” The delegation included Kangra MP Shanta Kumar, Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur, and Shimla MP Virendra Kashyap. A four-member CEA team inspected the buildings, machinery and other equipment of the 110-MW Shanan power house.
Earlier former Himachal minister Gulab Singh Thakur had written to Union Minister of State for power and Energy, Piyush Goel, expressing serious concern over the deliberate attempts by the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) to ruin the Shanan Complex, one of the unique and globally known power projects cum tourists resorts before the expiry of the 99-year lease in 2024.
The biggest attraction of the project, the 4-stage haulage trolley service which starts from Jogindernagar through 8,000 ft high mountain and terminates on the bank of Uhl river at Barot was suspended sometime ago by the Punjab power authorities. The Union Minister was apprised that the greasing and oiling of rail lines and pulleys, which was earlier done daily has been stopped for the last 5 years. Consequently, these are decaying and rusting.
This project was one of the unique monuments of the last century which is a rare marvel of a blend of power and tourism built in the lush green and panoramic setup of dense deodar forests and ivory grasslands and pastures.
The strength of the staff engaged in the upkeep of the project has been reduced from 350 to 150. The major repairs and trolley service have been suspended. The buildings and equipment at Barot from where water of Uhl river has been diverted through a 2km long tunnel are in a dilapidated condition and many structures are collapsing, locals said.
Officials in Himachal Pradesh say that legally the project should have been transferred in 1947 after Independence when Mandi and other states merged into Himachal Pradesh. They say injustice was done to the backward state, which was a union territory at that time without powerful political backup.
Commissioned in 1936, during the British rule in India, the Shanan Hydro-electric Power House had been constructed under a 99-year lease deed executed between Joginder Sen, Raja of Mandi State and Col B.C. Batty, a representative of the then British Government in 1925.
During the reorganization of states in November, 1966, Shanan Power House went to the share of Punjab as the 99-year lease deed between the Raja of Mandi and British Government had not expired at that time.
Shanan Power House used to feed the entire undivided Punjab and Delhi at the time of its construction. The sprawling Shanan complex spread over a radius of several kilometers was, in fact, unique project in the country and its marvelous setting had made it more of a world tourists resort than a mere power project. Thousands of tourists from across the world and the elite of the country including top film stars and other dignitaries used to enjoy ride of haulage trucks and trolleys up to Zero Point at Barot.
People of Barot and Jogindernagar allege that Punjab Government and HPSEB have conspired to hand over the project to Himachal Pradesh in 2024 in a dismal state of wreck and ruin, little realizing this unique monument of power and tourism had yielded crores of rupees to Punjab from 1936 onwards.