Bengal to get more power from Teesta

TT, Siliguri, Jan.7: Bengal is set to get more power as the NHPC will commission a portion of the Teesta Low Dam Project IV, a 160MW hydro-electrical venture, at Kalijhora in Darjeeling district next month.

"There are four units at TLDP-IV in Kalijhora where around 160 MW power would be generated. We are set to commission two units of the project next month. The remaining two units will be commissioned by July. The project had started in 2007 with an estimated cost of Rs 1,061 crore. However, because of a number of reasons like natural disasters and political problems, the construction had slowed down between 2007 and 2012," S.R. Roy, the executive director of the NHPC in Siliguri and the head of TLDP-IV project, told the media here yesterday evening.

The official said the entire power generated at TLDP-IV - around 720 million units in a year - would be sold by the NHPC to Bengal as agreed upon in a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two parties.

With the delay in construction, the cost has escalated to over Rs 2,000 crore.

"We have invested around Rs 1,900 crore so far. Once the project is commissioned in a full-fledged manner, the total cost would be around Rs 2,193 crore," said an NHPC source.

According to sources, 11 families need to be shifted from Kalijhora. "They will be provided with appropriate compensation. We had offered them a plot near Rambhi (20km from Kalijhora). But they wanted to move to some other location. Necessary arrangements would be made in consultation with the district administration," said an NHPC official.

Kalijhora is 20km from Siliguri.

The NHPC runs around 20 hydro-projects in the country, most of which are in the northern parts. The total capacity of all these projects is over 6,500 MW, sources said.