More than 70 years after Independence, an engineering feat by state-run transmission utility PowerGrid has made it possible for India’s northernmost areas in Jammu & Kashmir to plug into the national electricity network to bring ‘one-nation-one-grid’ closer to reality.
On Saturday, PowerGrid and Jammu and Kashmir power department switched on the Alusteng-Alunday stretch of the 350-kilometre Srinagar-Kargil-Leh transmission line tracing some of the world’s highest mountain ranges and inhospitable terrains separating the Kashmir Valley from the frontier districts of Ladakh and Kargil. Sources told TOI power flowed for four hours through the 220-Kv (kilo-volt) line and its four sub-stations connecting Leh with the northern grid at Alusteng near Srinagar.
“This is a milestone for our country. We have now connected our northernmost areas to the national grid. It is a milestone for the people of Ladakh and Kargil. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone on August 12, 2014 and it was commissioned during this government’s tenure. This is commitment to people’s welfare,” power minister RK Singh told TOI.
The project is expected to dramatically improve the quality of life with 24X7 power supply in the strategically important region, which sees long and harsh winters with temperatures dipping to 50 degrees below freezing. Assured power supply is expected to energise economic activity and employment through winter tourism. Environment will get respite from millions of litres of diesel that is burnt by the defence and civil establishments to run generators.
Leh and Kargil towns have been getting power since 2013 from two NHPC hydel projects, built at a combined cost of nearly Rs 2,000 crore at Nimmoo-Bazgo and Chutak, respectively. Built as part of India’s strategy to exploit the potential of Indus before it enters Pakistan, the hydel stations were running at sub-optimal levels in the absence of grid connectivity. The Srinagar line will allow the stations to run at full capacity, feeding surplus power into the northern grid during summer and draw 100-150 MW in winter when reduced flow impedes generation.
In the long term, the line will help Ladakh-Kargil region emerge as India’s power house by allowing evacuation of power from proposed solar projects with aggregate capacity of 7.5 GW (giga watt).
Due to their isolated locations, Ladakh and Kargil have remained 95% power deficit regions. Habitations, including district headquarters Leh and Kargil, till recently received five hours of power supply in the evening from diesel generators and a few micro hydel projects.
