Heavy rains, damage farms and hydro projects in Himachal Pradesh

Heavy rain and gusty clouds have wreaked havoc in several districts of Himachal Pradesh including Solan, Shimla, Hamirpur and Kullu. Heavy rains and resulting flash flooding have caused extensive damage to farms, barns, local roads, bridges, vehicles, and public infrastructure. Furthermore, two hydroelectric projects have also been affected by the natural calamity.

Hamirpur district has suffered severe damage from heavy rains. Initial rains have wreaked havoc, particularly due to a downpour in Khairi village, Sujanpur subdivision. As a result, five houses were inundated and significant waterlogging occurred in Panchayat Bhawan and the Cow Animal Sanctuary. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but property worth thousands of rupees was damaged.

One of the hardest hit areas was the Dhaulasiddh project, where the floodwaters washed away six machines worth about 25 lakhs. The contractor faced substantial losses due to this incident. The Public Works Department, the Jal Shakti Department and the Hamirpur District Electricity Board collectively suffered losses of more than Rs 1 crore. Many kutcha stables and houses were also damaged, and the Mandi Pathankot National Highway construction site witnessed flooding that affected several homes in Tounidvi.

Cloudburst incident

One of the affected projects is the 14 MW GreenKo Hydro Electric Power (HEP) project in the Shimla district. The project's diversion pipeline was damaged due to a cloudburst incident in the town of Sugga, causing flooding and exacerbating flash flood destruction in the area. Local residents are now demanding the closure of the project during the monsoon season, citing security concerns.

The second project affected by the flash floods is Dhaulasiddh HEP, a 66 MW hydroelectric project on the Beas river in the Hamirpur district. The sudden deluge washed away the machines at the project site, causing a loss of Rs. 25 lakhs. The incident occurred after a cloudburst over Khairi village.

Apart from the aforementioned incidents, there was an incident related to the mismanagement of a dam which had an impact on Chabba's water supply scheme in Shimla. Due to the sudden release of water from the Nathpa Dam, the pump house was submerged and the submersible pumps and inlet pipeline were damaged. As a result, the water supply to the city of Shimla was interrupted.

Severe weather events

In recent years, there has been an increase in severe weather events that are affecting hydropower projects both in operation and under construction in the Himalayan region. Even in July 2022, the 100 MW HEP Malana II in Parbati Valley, Himachal Pradesh, suffered heavy damage due to flash floods caused by a cloud burst.

Also, in the 2021 monsoon season, several hydropower projects were affected to varying degrees by flash floods triggered by cloudbursts. This includes at least four projects (Brahmaganga, Bane-Sangam, Tiroth, Chamera II) in Himachal Pradesh. During the same period, information was also found on seven other projects (four in Uttarakhand, two in Jammu and Kashmir, and one in Ladakh) that were affected by torrential flooding.

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