| Kishanganga Dam | |
|---|---|
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| Coordinates | |
| Status | Construction halted |
| Construction began | 2007 |
| Opening date | 2016 est. |
| Construction cost | Rs. 3642.04 crore ($687 million USD 2011) |
| Owner(s) | NHPC Limited |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Concrete-face rock-fill |
| Height | 37 m (121 ft) |
| Impounds | Kishanganga (Neelum) River |
| Reservoir | |
| Power station | |
| Hydraulic head | 697 m (2,287 ft) |
| Turbines | 3 x 110 MW Pelton-type |
| Installed capacity | 330 MW |
The Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant is part of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme that is designed to divert water from the Kishanganga River to a power plant in the Jhelum River basin. It is located 5 km (3 mi) north of Bandipore in Jammu and Kashmir, India and will have an installed capacity of 330 MW. Construction on the project began in 2007 and is expected to be complete in 2016. Construction on the dam was halted though by the Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration in October 2011 due to Pakistan's protest of its effect on the flow of the Kishanganga River (called the Neelum River in Pakistan).
Pakistan is worried that the project will have adverse impacts on the flow of the river, which flows into their country and meets with the Jhelum River. Pakistan is constructing the Neelum–Jhelum Hydropower Plant downstream of the Kishanganga. The Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant operates in a similar sense as the Neelum–Jhelum Hydropower Plant, using a dam to divert the Kishanganga (Neelum) River to a power station before it is discharged into Wular Lake which is fed by the Jhelum River. The Kishanganga Project will divert a portion of the Neelum River from Pakistan which will reduce power generation at the Neelum–Jhelum Hydropower Plant. India states the project will divert 10 percent of the river's flow while other estimates stand as high as 33 percent. Nevertheless, water flow below the Neelum–Jhelum Dam, in Pakistan's Neelum Valley, is expected to be minimal as both projects are diverting water to the Jhelum River. This has the potential to have adverse impacts in the Neelum Valley.[1]
In 2010, Pakistan appealed to the Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration (CoA), complaining that the Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant violates the Indus River Treaty by increasing the catchment of the Jhelum River and depriving Pakistan of its water rights. In June 2011, the CoA visited both the Kishanganga and Neelum–Jhelum Projects. In August 2011, they ordered India to submit more technical data on the project.[2] India had previously reduced the height of the dam from 98 m (322 ft) to 37 m (121 ft).[3] After Pakistan's application was first rejected, the court asked India late September to stop constructing any permanent works that would inhibit restoration of the river. While India cannot construct the dam, they can continue on the tunnel and power plant in hopes that the court will allow the project.[4]
The project includes a 37 m (121 ft) tall concrete-face rock-fill dam at which will divert a portion of the Kishanganga River south through a 24 km (15 mi) tunnel. The tunnel is received by a surge chamber before sending water to the underground power house at which contains 3 x 110 MW Pelton turbine-generators. After the power plant, water is discharged through a tail race channel into Wular Lake. The drop in elevation from the dam to the power station will afford a hydraulic head of 697 m (2,287 ft).[5]