‘Watershed’ Moment: India Advances 1,856 MW Sawalkote Hydro Project Plan After Indus Treaty Suspension
The project aims to tap into the hydroelectric potential of the Chenab River between the Baglihar Project upstream and the Salal Project downstream.
In a major step, the Central government on Wednesday initiated plans to develop the 1,856 MW Sawalkote Hydro Project near Sidhu village in Ramban district of the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir, on the Chenab River. Originally proposed in the 1960s, the project is now moving towards implementation.
This move adds to Pakistan’s concerns following India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. As per a tender document reviewed by News18, the Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project seeks to utilise the hydropower potential of the Chenab River in the stretch between the Baglihar Project (upstream) and the Salal Project (downstream).
The Sawalkote Project covers Ramban and Udhampur districts in Jammu & Kashmir and lies around 120 km from Jammu and 130 km from Srinagar, with both cities’ airports located at roughly the same distance from the project site. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) was last completed in 2018, and developments have picked up pace after India froze the Indus Waters Treaty on April 22 this year.
The project will include a Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) Gravity Dam with a height of 192.5 metres from its deepest foundation point, and the river will be diverted through three horseshoe-shaped tunnels, according to the tender details. An underground powerhouse will be set up on the left bank of the Chenab River, downstream of the dam, with an installed generation capacity of 1,800 MW, divided into eight units of 225 MW each. Moreover, a 56 MW unit will make use of the water released to meet environmental flow needs, bringing the total capacity to 1,856 MW (1,800 + 56 MW).
The design includes flood diversion during non-monsoon and monsoon periods at 2,977 cumec and 9,292 cumec respectively. The lengths of the three diversion tunnels will be 965 m, 1,130 m, and 1,280 m. The project is classified as a run-of-the-river scheme.
The catchment area of the Chenab River lies within Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. The upper portion of the basin is located between the Great Himalayas and Pir Panjal range, while the lower portion falls between Pir Panjal and the Dhauladhar/Shivalik ranges.
The Chenab River is one of the key rivers in Jammu & Kashmir, along with the Indus and Jhelum. The basin of the Chenab forms a part of the Western Himalayas, with over 10,000 square kilometres of its catchment in India lying permanently above the snowline.
The Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project was initially conceived by the Central Water Commission (CWC), and detailed investigations for the DPR began in the early 1960s. Geological surveys were carried out by officers of the Geological Survey of India between 1962–63 and 1970–71. The Sawalkote Consortium most recently submitted the Detailed Project Report in February 2018.
