Poor upkeep of Shanan project raises concern

Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 1

The state government’s efforts to take over the Shanan Power Project (110 mw) in Jogindernagar have failed to yield good results. The project’s 99 years’ lease is nearing expiry and the clamour for its possession is growing louder.

During the re-organisation of Punjab in November 1966, the project was given to Punjab on a 99-year lease as per the agreement between Raja Joginder Sen of the erstwhile princely state of Mandi and Col BC Batty, representative of the British government, on March 3,1925.

The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) was entrusted with the maintenance of the project, the first of its kind in North India that supplied power to undivided Punjab and Delhi. But it failed to maintain the project, said former BJP minister and MLA from Jogindernagar Gulab Singh.

He alleged that the PSEB had stopped all investments and if this continued for long, the project would be in ruins by the time it would be handed over to Himachal in March 2024.

“As the Punjab Government is aware that the lease will expire in 2024, it is neglecting the maintenance of the project and as such the project should be handed over to Himachal immediately,” said Gulab Singh, adding that any further delay would cost dear.

Gulab Singh urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, former CM PK Dhumal and MP to take up the matter with Union Minister of State for Power Piyush Goel and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for saving the project.

“If the issue can’t be discussed, a “joint vehicle” should be put in place for the maintenance of the 82-year project commissioned on March 10, 1933,” he said.

“A resolution was moved in the Assembly in 1981 to hand over the project to Himachal and members across party lines had supported it. The project was wrongly allotted to Punjab in May 1967. It should have been under the control of the state but the successive governments at the Centre ignored the claim of Himachal.