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Kerala gets 50 MW power project after 25 years

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The 50 megawatt Kakkad hydro-electric project, which took almost 25 years for completion, was commissioned by Chief Minister E K Nayanar today.

The project was conceived to meet the acute power shortage of the hilly district of Pathanamthitta. It was haunted by protracted labour troubles, corruption, inefficiency of authorities and indifference of contractors. The project work started in 1978, and needed a massive effort in the last three years, for completion.

Former power minister Pinarayi Vijayan, when he assumed office in May 1996, inheritated a state that faced a 100 per cent power cut. He constituted a popular committee to wade through the hurdles that the Kerala State Electricity Board could not remove in 23 years. The committee, consisting of people’s representatives, trade union leaders, district collector and district superintendents of police, fixed a time-frame for completing each phase of the work and pursued it single mindedly to see through the project early this month.

The estimated cost of the project, when the work began in April 1978, was just Rs 186 million. The costs over-ran to roughly Rs 1.5 billion by the time of project completion. The cost escalation was a record 700 per cent.

Frequent labour unrest has been the major bane of this project. The labour problems forced the contractors to abandon the work several times. Nexus between corrupt officials and the contractors also contributed much to the delay. According to highly placed sources, a section of the officials in the KSEB delayed the project in connivance with the contractors for the material benefit of both. This had forced the Accountant General to object to payment to certain contractors.

The Kakkad project has the dubious distinction of taking the maximum gestation period. The Lower Periyar Hydroelectric project took 13 years for completion. The project was commissioned in October 1997 after draining roughly Rs 2.5 billion by way of cost escalation.

Unlike the Kakkad project, the Lower Periyar project was delayed mostly by the failure by the Allahabad-based Triveni Structurals to supply the equipment in time. The KSEB was indirectly responsible for the delay as it did not take any steps to force the company to supply the material when it failed to keep up the schedule.

Although the Kakkad project did not serve the original purpose, it has come handy for the Left Democratic Front government to fulfil its promise to make Kerala surplus in power before 2001. With the commissioning of this project, the total number of projects commissioned during the three years of LDF rule has risen up to eight.

The projects commissioned during this period include Kayamkulam Thermal Power project (230 MW), Lower Periyar project (180 MW), Brahmapuram (106 MW) and BSES project (80 MW). The 96 MW Nallalam Diesel project at Kozhikode is ready for commissioning on October 18.

With this, the total generation capacity created during the past three years would go up to 720 MW. The total generating capacity of the state would mount to 2153.625 MW after the commissioning of the Nallalam project.

The state has now veered close to the projected peak demand of 2,763 MW. The ongoing projects are expected to add another 680 MW to the total generation capacity. The state is likely to achieve surplus generation if the 513 MW Kannur power project of the KPP Nambiar and Associates are allowed to take off the ground. After much dilly-dallying, the KSEB has cleared the project for recommending it to the Central Electricity Authority for the final techno-economic clearance.

The Kakkad project is the 17th hydroelectric project in the state. It would generate a total of 262 million units annually. It is the second stage of development of tapping the hydroelectric potential of the river Pampa by using the tall-race water of the Sabarigiri hydroelectric project flowing from the Moozhiyar power house.

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Kerala