Tshering Palden
Kuensel Online
April 11, 2014
After almost a year long delay, construction of Punatsangchhu hydroelectric project I dam could finally begin this June. Project officials said critical remedial works to stabilise the slide area on the right bank of Punatsangchhu, which is the main reason for the delay, would be complete by then.
The hill mass above Wangdue-Tsirang highway tore up 3.5m horizontally and vertically some 10km downstream from the Wangdue bridge in July and froze all works at the dam construction. The landslide cost the 1,200MW project an additional Nu 3.5B and delayed its commissioning by a year. Larsen and Toubro the contractor constructing the dam for the project inducted two Indian companies, Pavai Infrastructure and Shyam Tubewells, to carry out the major remedial measures at the slide area.
The two companies are drilling 100m holes into the slide area and re-enforcing with high speed concrete, and deep cable anchoring, among other measures to stabilize the area.
The project’s managing director, RN Khazanchi, said they have two months to fix the critical part of the sliding mass after which they could begin building the dam. “The next two months are crucial for us.”
The construction of the dam has become a very critical component of the project after the geological surprise last July. However, he said, the decision to start dam construction would depend on the assessment of the remedial measures by the technical experts to whom the project management would make a presentation.
Other components of the project would be completed in phases, starting with the headrace tunnel in December this year through June 2016 when the powerhouse with the turbines and generators would be complete.
“We can complete the project as per the revised schedule, by November 2017, if we can begin works on the dam by June,” RN Khazanchi said. The project’s initial cost of Nu 35.14B in 2006 was revised to Nu 90B with Nu 3.5B as additional cost for the remedial measures of the landslide on the right bank of Punatsangchhu.
“We’ve got an interim sanction of Nu 17.65B and the revised cost would be sanctioned in September this year,” the managing director said. The project has spent Nu 38.34B until the end of last month. The first quarter estimate budget, for April to June, of Nu 6.65B has been submitted to the Government of India. It has an estimate of Nu 17.5B as budget for the 2014-15 budget year.
The project owes about Nu 5B to its contractors for completed works.
“This amount is within the sanctioned budget and 3-4 weeks is the regular processing time for the claims,” Khazanchi said. As of March 31, the project and contractors engaged in the project employed more than 1,565 Bhutanese including 146 degree and diploma civil engineers. Of that the project authority alone employs 909 Bhutanese including 105 temporary workers.
