During his visit to hilly State, Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate NTPC's 800MW Koldam Hydro Project in Bilaspur district.
The 800 MW Kol Dam hydro electric project, is the first venture of the NTPC in hydro-power generation on the bank of Sutlej in Himachal Pradesh falling in the districts of Mandi and Bilaspur under a tripartite agreement signed between the NTPC, Government of Himachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) on February 26, 2000.
Former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, had laid the foundation stone of this project on June 5, 2000 at a sprawling ground on Mandi-Dehar road.
Kol Dam is a run of the river project utilising a fall of 140 meters by constructing 163 meters high rock cum gravel fill dam utilizing the central clay core. It has a surface power station at the toe of the dam with four vertical turbines of 200 MW each.
Another feature of the project is that the water impounded in the lake has given birth to a 40 kilometers long lake upstream of the dam. This is the largest man-made lake in any hilly areas of the country embracing four of the 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh-- Mandi, Bilaspur, Solan and Shimla.
The project which had been commissioned informally some time back is generating about 3100 million units of power which is being shared by the electricity boards of the northern regions as per power purchase agreements.
Himachal Pradesh is getting 27 per cent of the total power generated, free of cost and 12 per cent on the basis of bus bar tariff. Rest of the power would go to the northern grid.
With the construction of Kol Dam, the Bhakra Dam will get a fresh lease of life. Its life span will increase by about 20 years as the silt and stone sediments will be trapped in the Kol Dam upstream of
Bhakra Dam.
Earlier the entire water of Sutlej had been diverted to Sutlej itself away from the site of construction to facilitate the execution of the project through two horseshoe shape tunnels of the diameter of 16.4 meters each, one of the largest in Asia.
Unlike the BBMB which perpetrated great hardship to the displaced persons of BSl Project in Mandi district many of them were still languishing unsettled even after decades of the completion of the BSl project. the NTPC has constructed modern colonies for the resettlement of the displaced persons with all the modern facilities of health services, roads and education at different places in four districts of the state.
Construction of all-weather roads on both sides of the 40-km long lake is also under way harnessing a new tourism potential created by the Kol dam Project. The lake is likely to attract thousands of tourists from home and abroad. lush green plantation will also be undertaken with the active coordination of the NTPC.
Many big hoteliers have already purchased land on both sides of the lake to constructing hotels in the coming years.
The lake would also be utilized for navigation of small ships and big boats and also for transportation of goods.
