Bottlenecks continue to delay the Sipat project with NTPC now having reservations on giving a fresh application to the Chhattisgarh government for restoring water supply to the project. The state government had in September cancelled the earlier allocation of water from the Hasdeo-Bango dam which in effect stopped power generation from unit 4 of the plant and has delayed the commissioning of unit 5 of the same plant. Both these units have a capacity of 500 mw each.

After having initially agreed to supply water, the state government said that NTPC should rather source water from the Mahanadi river as supply of water from the dam would deprive irrigation to around 60,000 acres of land in Chhattisgarh. Added to this the state government also asked for greater share of power from the “regional” plant and wanted the power company to put in place a proper mechanism to take care of the project affected people (PAP).

Chief minister Raman Singh had raised this issue with the union power ministry and even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month. A few days back, the state government along with the Union power ministry worked out a compromise to revive the Sipat project which, apart from others, included restoring water supply to it according to the original plan.

According to the agreement with the state — which is still temporary in nature — while the central water commission would look into the possibility of sourcing water from the Mahanadi river, the state agreed to supply water to power units from the dam until this task was complete. However, the state government asked NTPC to put in a fresh application for this.

... contd.