Glaciers have started freezing in the mountains in Himachal due to the onset of winter. Due to this, the water level in rivers and streams is falling daily. Its effect is becoming visible on electricity production also. Himachal, which produces surplus electricity, has faced a power crisis even before winter and the power production has fallen by 63 percent. As the cold is increasing, electricity production is also falling rapidly.
Due to power shortages, Himachal, which is called an energy state, has now become dependent on the electricity of neighbouring states. Usually, Himachal used to produce surplus electricity in the third week of October, but this time due to early snowfall, winters has hit the mountains early. Due to this the glaciers have started freezing. Water in the rivers has reduced due to freezing of glaciers. Especially in the rivers which are completely dependent on glaciers, the water level has reduced to half. Due to this, the projects of Energy Corporation have declined by 68 percent and Himachal has been forced to take electricity from outside and go back to banking.
At present there are a total of 52 power projects in Himachal with a power capacity of 11040 MW. Of these, 12 projects are run by central PSUs, including SJVNL, NTPC, NHPC and BBMB. These are big projects and these projects have the maximum power capacity of 7402 MW. The state electricity board has a total of 13 small power projects of 497 MW. 31 MW electricity coming from micro power projects is also included in these. State Energy Corporation has four projects. Apart from this, Independent Power Producers run 22 power projects in Himachal.
The largest among these is the 1045 MW Karcham Wangtu project in Kinnaur. This category also includes 318 MW power generation from micro projects. The average production decline in all these 52 power projects is 63 percent. The problem this time is that the 126 MW Larji power project has been stalled since the heavy rains in July. Beas river water had entered this project at Larji between Mandi and Kullu. The deadline for its repair has been given till the end of November, but there is no possibility of power generation starting here this year.