MAKAWANPUR, FEB 13 –
Storage capacity of the reservoir of the Kulekhani Hydropower Project is diminishing due to siltation in the river every year and as a result electricity generation has decreased, officials of the project said.
The officials alleged that the project, also called the backup power station of Nepal Electricity Authority, now has a capacity of generating only 144.7 million units of electricity which is significantly less than its original capacity of 211.1 million units.
“Power generation has dropped significantly due to decreasing capacity of the reservoir,” said Chief of Kulekhani I Hydropower Project Ram Kumar Yadav.
The reservoir at present has a capacity to store 59.99 million cusec water as against 85.3 million cusec in the past years, he said.
Yadav also claimed that the surface level of the reservoir has increased by 13 metres in the last 31 years due to siltation, leading to the decrease of its capacity by around 30 percent.
According to Ishwori Prasad Jaisawal, an engineer at the project, a flood which occurred 20 years ago deposited silt up to six meters in the reservoir.
Jaisawal also mentioned that 170,000 cubic metre silt has been deposited in the reservoir so far.
Source : ekantipur
