April 16, 2002	Tuesday	Safar 2, 1423

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MUZAFFARABAD, April 15: A fault has again occurred in the 132-kv transmission line, transmitting power from the 30.4mw Jagran Hydel Power Project to the National Grid in Muzaffarabad, causing a loss of around Rs1.33 million to the AJK exchequer daily, Dawn has learnt from informed sources.

The Jagran power project located in the Neelum Valley and its 53-km-long transmission line are maintained by the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Hydro Electric Board (AJKHEB). However, the organization is alleged to have failed to ensure proper maintenance of the line, built at a cost of Rs262 million.

The latest fault in the line, according to the sources, occurred on April 9, but it had not been located and rectified till the filing of this report on Monday.

The daily production capacity of the Jagran powerhouse these days is 24mw, as there is the maximum discharge of water in the Jagran Nullah. By the end of April, the production is expected to rise to 30mw.

Given the income from 24mw power production, the financial loss suffered by the government so far was no less than Rs9.3 million, the sources said.

This is the fourth time that a fault has occurred in the line since January 13 when a fault disrupted the transmission of power. That fault was rectified after three weeks on Feb 7. During that period, according to estimates, the financial losses were to the tune of Rs6.5 million.

The sources said Rs300,000 had been drawn by one official of the AJKHEB for the removal of the fault that had occurred on Jan 13, while almost a similar fault that had later occurred had been rectified by another official for Rs20,000.

One of the main causes of the frequent occurrence of faults is the natural falling of trees standing along the line, which passes through difficult hilly terrain.

Interestingly, an amount of Rs1.2 million was drawn from the department’s budget for the removal of all such trees at the time of the line’s erection about two years ago, but the sources alleged that the amount had not been properly utilized.

The AJKHEB, it was learnt, was short of technical staff although the consultant firm, Nespak, had given several proposals to employ the required staff. Consequently, the organization has been unable to maintain regular monitoring and patrolling along the line.

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