Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant

Kishanganga Dam
Location of Kishanganga Dam
Coordinates	34°38′51″N 74°45′53″E / 34.64750°N 74.76472°E / 34.64750; 74.76472Coordinates: 34°38′51″N 74°45′53″E / 34.64750°N 74.76472°E / 34.64750; 74.76472
Status	U
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
Impounds	Kishanganga (Neelum) River
Height	37 m (121 ft)
Power station
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). In February 2013, the Hague ruled that India could divert a minimum amount of water for power generation.

Downstream impact

N–J Dam

N–J Plant

Kish. Dam

Kish. Station

Location of the Neelum–Jhelum and Kishanganga projects in Jammu and Kashmir

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] In February 2013 the Hague ruled that India could divert a minimum of water for their project.^[5] In this partial award, the court upheld India's main contention that it has the right to divert waters of western rivers, in a non-consumptive manner, for optimal generation of power. The International Court of Arbitration gave its "final award" on 20th December 2013, wherein it allowed India to go ahead with the construction of the Kishanganga dam in Jammu & Kashmir over which Pakistan had raised objections. The court delivered its "final award" after India requested clarification of an order issued by it in February. The "final award" specifies that 9 cumecs of natural flow of water must be maintained in Kishanganga river at all times to maintain the environment downstream. The court said alternative techniques will have to be used for Kishanganga hydroelectric project and all future run of the river projects undertaken on western rivers of the Indus system. The western rivers are allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.^[6]

Design

The project includes a 37 m (121 ft) tall concrete-face rock-fill dam at 34°38′51″N 74°45′53″E / 34.64750°N 74.76472°E / 34.64750; 74.76472 (Kishanganga Dam) 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 34°28′21″N 74°38′06″E / 34.47250°N 74.63500°E / 34.47250; 74.63500 (Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant) 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).^[7]

References