Experts report identifies causes of Neelum-Jhelum project tunnel collapse

ISLAMABAD: A team of experts in a preliminary report has identified 11 causes of the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project’s tunnel collapse, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

It is to be mentioned here that the Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA) had announced in July that Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project has been shut down after developing a technical fault.

The report has identified several causes of the tunnel collapse including defective substandard material, erosion of rocks, absence of concrete lining, absence of the land base support to the tunnel, hydraulic conditions and erosion of the lining of the tunnel might be some of them, according to report. However, no conclusions could be drawn before submission of the final report.

An inquiry team of experts was constituted, and its terms of reference (ToRs) were fixed on the instruction of the prime minister.

The 969-megawatt cheap electricity project has been shut down for last five-and-half months. Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project was built with over 500 billion rupees.

The Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project became operational with the commissioning of its first unit on April 13 in 2018. All four units were commissioned successfully by August 2018.

With the onset of summer increase in the flow of the Neelum River, the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project in March 2018 reached to its peak capacity of 969 MW of electricity. All four production units of the plant were running at their maximum. Each unit of the plant can produce 242.25 MW of electricity.

The Neelum–Jhelum Hydropower Plant was part of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power scheme in azad Kashmir, designed to divert water from the Neelum River to a power station on the Jhelum River. The power station is located 42 km south of Muzaffarabad and has an installed capacity of 969MW.