BBMB claims record output
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 21
With the Bhakra and Pong dams filled to the brim at the end of the filling season, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) today claimed that it had achieved a record power generation of 7,000 million units.

However, this statement has been challenged by several experts, who have accused the BBMB of criminal neglect in deliberately reducing the top level of the dam by 5 feet.

The BBMB has claimed that the cumulative power generation of the year till date was not only the highest in the last decade, but was also 23 per cent more than the target of 5,670 million units set by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). It also claimed that the increase in power generation had helped the partner states, who had saved more than Rs 400 crore by reducing their power purchases.

This assertion has, however, been challenged by experts. GS Dhillon, who has worked in the Bhakra design wing when it was under construction, said the dam was designed to accommodate water till 1,685 feet. “However, the dam authorities had reduced this figure unilaterally by 5 feet this season and filled the dam up to 1,680 feet only. The effect of this criminal neglect will be felt in case of prolonged dry spells in summer,” he said.

All-India Power Federation President Padamjit Singh said the dam authorities had continued to release water from the spillway gates till the end of the filling season, even after the monsoon had receded. He also accused the BBMB of not giving the factual position on the actual reservoir capacity.