Landslides triggered by incessant rains have affected the structures , including the headworks, in the dam area of the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project located at Lamabagar in Bigu Rural Municipality-1, Dolakha.
Power generation from the project has been stopped from 7 pm on Friday,September 27, following an increase in the water flow. All the sluice gates in the dam have been opened with the increase in water level.
The project officials estimate the damage to the control room and desander which lie a little below the dam site on the right, as well as the culvert that connects the dam and the desander, could be severe, said NEA.
Mohan Gautam, CEO of Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited, the promoter of the project, said that no one has been able to reach the incident site yet due to flooding in the rivers on the access road from Gongar, where the power plant is located, to the dam.
A large amount of stones and mud have piled up in the reservoir area after the landslides.
While no human fatality has been reported so far, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited have urged the Garud Dal Batallion of Nepal Army stationed at Charikot, in writing, to rescue the five individuals stationed at the Headworks Control Building by any means.
Among the individuals whose conditions remain unknown are two emplyees of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited, two soldiers and a security guard.
The design discharge, or the flow of water, of the Tamakoshi project is 66 cumec. At present, it is 461 cumecs at the Tamakoshi Project’s Reservoir.
The power purchase and sale agreement with the NEA stipulates that the power plant should be shut down as soon as the water flow in the Bamojim river reaches 250 cumec.
After 4 pm on Friday, the water flow exceeded 250 cumecs and continued to increase, so the power generation was completely stopped from 7 pm.
(This new article has been updated to include the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited's request to the Army for rescuing the five individuals.)
