(Feature Image: Outlet of Sainj HEP powerhouse tunnel buried under silt in last week of June 2025. Source: Hariram Chaudhary, Sainj)
The Sainj Hydroelectric Project (HEP) in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh has been out of operation for over the past four months. The 100 Mw project of the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) is the fourth HEP which was severely affected by flash flood in Jiwa nullah on June 25, 2025.
The deluge had totally damaged the 1 Mw Jiwa nullah HEP and also turned the National Hydroelectric Power Project’s (NHPC) 800 Mw Parbati II & 520 Mw III HEPs nonfunctional for weeks. While the Jiwa HEP is now beyond repairing, the NHPC has managed clear the hundreds of tons of debris and repair the damages that had affected the power house and dam of Parbati II & III HEPs.
However, the restoration work of Sainj HEP is still going on. The unusual deluge spell on the day of the incident in Jiwa nullah brought debris and muck in massive amounts which travelled upstream in Pin Parbati from the confluence point and got deposited at the outlet of the powerhouse tunnel blocking its mouth completely.
The flood debris also entered the powerhouse of the project completely inundating the turbine and generator floors. The silt and debris have also caused damages to the project machinery. As per rough estimates, the financial loss to the project infrastructure and equipment are about ₹40 crores apart from generational loss of ₹1 crore on daily basis.
About a month after the incident, the project officials found that clearing the huge amounts of debris and silt from the power house and tail race tunnel was a big challenge which could take a long time.
Its going to be almost five months now and the restoration work is far from complete. As per the locals, given the scale of damage, quantity of muck and debris and pace of repairing, the project would not be operational even in next couple of months.
This is not the first time the project has faced the flood damages. In July 2023, the project was blamed for worsening flood damages in downstream areas after its gates got jammed due to muck and silt. In May 2019, the project remained out of operation for couple of moths after significant leakages in its adit tunnel-4. This happened hardly one and half year after the ₹800 crore project was commissioned. In July 2015 too, during the construction phase, the project tunnel suffered some damages and some of its machinery was washed away due to a flash flood in the Pin Parbati river.
Additionally, the June 2025 flood episode has also considerably changed the geomorphology of Jiwa and Pin Parbati rivers raising their bed level significantly. The situation has necessitated regular dredging and urgent effective steps for the treatment of the catchment and riverbank erosion to allow smooth functioning of these three HEPs in Sainj valley which is witnessing increase in frequency and intensity of the disasters.
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