Union Power Minister Manohar Lal said on Tuesday that India will plan more water storage for hydro projects in Jammu and Kashmir which are still in the early stages, but the pipeline will not have any changes for the projects already.
In a media briefing, the minister said, “Where the Indus Water Treaty is concerned, no changes will be made for the projects in the pipeline, as the technical details have been finalized. There are some projects that are in the initial stages, for which we can plan more water storage and power generation.”
After the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April, the government removed the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, which prohibits hydroelectric projects by incorporating any significant water storage capacity in the Basin of the Indus River. Now, the government is likely to increase storage capacity for new projects.
Currently, J&K has four hydro projects, agreed by the country’s top power planning body Central Electricity Authority (CEA), but is yet to be taken for construction.
These include New Gandarbal (93 MW) on Sindh Nallah, Chanthai-II (930 MW) and Solkot (1,856 MW) on Chenab and Uri-I Stage-II (240 MW) on Jhelum. By April, all these projects have been planned as a run-of-the-supervise, including three limited pondage capabilities.
CEA is also discovering the Bursar Storage-Based Hydro Project (800 MW) on the Marusudar River, a tributary of the chainb, which is currently under the survey and investigation (S&I) phase. Two more runs-off-the-supervision projects-Dulhasti Stage-II (260 MW) and Kirthai I (390 MW)-are under the exam.
According to CEA, J&K has a cumulative capacity of 1,088 MW, nine and the balance of hydro projects. Two of these are planned with storage–Gangbal (48 MW) and Wardwan Berser (255 MW)-and all the rest are run-off-the-supervision projects.
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First, The Indian Express It was reported that the Center wanted to fast-track four hydroelectric projects at Chambal Dal (1,000 MW), Ratal (850 MW), Kiru (624 MW), and Kwar (540 MW). Pakal dull is the first storage-based hydro project being built in J&K.
Once completed, it will have a live storage capacity of about 109 million cubic meters (MCM) and according to CEA, is expected to be commissioned by September 2026.
In briefing, Manohar Lal also said that the power sector of the country faced cyber attack in “large number” during Operation Sindoor, all of which were counted by the installed firewall.
“During the operation, Sindor, (Power Sector) system was attacked in large numbers. However, we fought each attack, so there was no loss.”
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Power Secretary Pankaj Aggarwal said that heavy malicious traffic was detected and addressed by the firewall.
The minister said, “Cyber security is being strengthened for all projects, whether it is generation, transmission or distribution. Even imported goods used in projects are being investigated, as anyone can try cyber attack.”
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