6 yrs gone, wind power project in limbo

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 15

J&K’s first wind energy project has become a “victim of politics” as the previous PDP-BJP government had adopted “delay tactics” in transferring 534 kanals of land identified in Bidda village of Reasi district for the purpose.

The detailed project report of this first-ever project in J&K was prepared in 2012 but no further progress was made due to the casual approach allegedly been adopted by those at the helm of affairs.

“It is all due to politics that the previous PDP-BJP government had failed to resolve the issue of land transfer with the National Hydroelectric Project Corporation (NHPC),” Aijaz Ahmed Khan, former minister and local Congress MLA, told The Tribune. He alleged that the previous government had deliberately created hurdles in the way of setting up the first-ever wind power project in J&K.

Aijaz Khan has his reasons to charge the previous coalition with intentionally sabotaging the project because it was due to his efforts that the National Institute of Wind Energy had found Bidda village feasible for the development of the wind energy project. In 2012, Khan was a minister under the NC-Congress rule and the village falls under his Assembly constituency of Gool-Arnas.

“I belong to the Congress. So this prestigious project, which has the potential to solve the power shortage problem of the entire Reasi district, was delayed intentionally by the previous government,” Aijaz alleged.

The Gool-Arnas Assembly segment is considered as the fiefdom of Aijaz Khan as he has been representing this seat for three successive terms. His brother Mumtaz Khan is also an MLA of the neighbouring Mahora Assembly seat.

In January 2017, the PDP-BJP government had admitted on the Assembly floor that a potential of 25 MW of wind power has been assessed at Bidda village in Reasi district, of which 6 MW is being harnessed in the first phase as a pilot project.

“The land for the project measuring approximately 534 kanals has been identified and it belongs to the NHPC. The transfer of the said land to the science and technology department by the NHPC is under active consideration and in an advanced stage,” the government had stated.

It had assured that “the work will be initiated on the 6-MW wind project as soon as the land is transferred and it is expected that the project would be executed during 2017-18”. The detailed project report for the project has been prepared by the National Institute of Wind Energy, a subsidiary of the Ministry of New and Renewal Energy, Government of India, and the project is estimated to cost approximately Rs 50 crore.

Claims made by govt in Assembly 

• In January 2017, the PDP-BJP government had admitted on the Assembly floor that a potential of 25 MW of wind power has been assessed at Bidda village in Reasi district, of which 6 MW is being harnessed in the first phase as a pilot project 
• "The land for the project on 534 kanals has been identified and it belongs to the NHPC. The transfer of the said land to the science and technology department is under active consideration and in an advanced stage," the government had stated
• It had assured that "the work will be initiated on the 6-MW wind project as soon as the land is transferred and it is expected that the project would be executed during 2017-18"