NUWAKOT, MAY 15 – Electricity generation at Trishuli (21 Megawatt) and Devighat (14 megawatt) hydropower projects have stopped for the last 20 days after the April 25 earthquake damaged the Trishuli project’s tunnel.
As the water released from the Trishuli power plant is used at Devighat project, both the projects have been affected. According to the project office, the tunnel was damaged at Aagutar, near to the No 2 bridge of the project. The Trishuli Project had been producing 18MW of electricity before the catastrophe.
The project’s chief Narayan Jaisi Tiwari said the tunnel has sustained a hole and they were trying to fix it. “The maintenance work is expected to be completed by Thursday and we will carry out test production,” he said.
The construction of Trishuli-3A Project has also stopped. A landslide caused by the quake has affected the dam site and equipment.
The landslide, which has blocked a 5km road connecting Simle and the dam, claimed lives of three workers, while one is missing. After the event, both Nepali and Chinese workers have abandoned work. The project is located on the Rasuwa-Nuwakot border. Uttam Amatya, project chief of Trishuli-3A, said the construction could be delayed by a year as they had to first clear landslide debris to resume the work. “We asked the contractor to resume the work, but the Chinese company refused to come fearing of possible aftershocks.”
The construction was expected to be completed by June-end next year.
Source : eKantipur
