UNFAIR: Power woes in Gurez?

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GUREZ SERIES…

Disha lay on the rock, face down, scooped up the water in her cupped hands, from Gurez’s legendary Habba Khatoon spring and slowly sipped it. “Gurez has a distinct and delightful ‘Taste Profile’”, she declared, enjoying the sweet flavour of dewy water emerging from the Habba Khatoon – the poet queen’s mountain peak.

Disha’s hubby, Varun Solanki, meantime hummed a romantic Punjabi number – “Chann Kithan Guzari ayi raat ve”, – O my Moon how did you spend the night? Attempting to rhyme the two- ‘Gurez and Guzari’(meaning, time-spent); to outline their dreamy stay. And whispered, I am attracted by the ‘hypnotic innocence’ of this incredible valley. “We are infected forever with the pure spirit of Gurez”, they spoke together.

Disha, a dynamic young Investment Advisor with ‘Unaprime’ and Varun a business owner, felt loath to go back to the polluted humdrum of Mumbai or its darkish ocean waters, after the rendezvous in the –‘enchanting Land of the Dards- Dardistan, of Ancient settlers’.

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Virgin Gurez and power issues

Fascinating stories like the above turning into beautiful memories with charming untainted beauty of Gurez could get undermined most unfortunately by the ‘diesel-ed air’ that greets one at the very first habitation of Dawar Township.

As evening descends on the exquisite locale, and the moon quietly creeps out of the triangular peak named after medieval poetess Habba Khatoon, the whirring of diesel-fed Gen-sets and pollution thereon doesn’t leave in peace the fragile silence of the pure air of this joyous land. Fumes carry forth a daily act of invasion in this little township, of smoke emitting gen-sets all fired up from evening 19.00 hours till Cinderella’s hour of stroke of midnight 24.00 hours, amounting to nearly six or more hours of heavy pollution.

And one wonders “How the rich Cinderella-land of the fairy-tale flora survives, with the onslaught of heavy pollutants and how could the water-rich land be deprived of essential cleaner sources of electricity via hydro operations, while the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) generation plant producing 330 MW hydropower, on the Kishanganga River, sits in Gurez’s womb?” Many in Gurez including the armed force personnel express their deep dismay over the power scenario in Gurez as a ‘monumentally unfair’ distribution of electricity that needs to be rectified at the earliest.

In October 2021, High Tension poles were seen installed in a neat row along the road, in Dawar near the landmark Habba Khatoon peak, with snow cutting barriers on the upper hillside, admittedly to prevent huge blocks of snow from accumulating and rolling downhill and damaging poles. Sources in the power department said that a projected number of poles to be installed for power distribution is 2000, to the Gurez border sector, divided into two blocks of Dawar and Tulail.

Two substations or receiving stations are proposed of 6.3 MVA each in both Dawar and Tulail blocks. Dawar sub-station- distanced at about 66Kms from Bandipore- the source of the power distribution, and Tulail at 42 Kms further on. However, proposals cannot become the power for the area, until implemented and produce results to elevate the lives of the country folk and mitigate the pollution level of the pure vale.

Snow Avalanches prove spoilsport

Power woes of Gurez seem less from a reason of lethargy or incompetence, and more due to nature’s refusal to be tamed by man. Power authorities and ground teams of the project are miffed by snow avalanches in the recent past that led to stalling of the installation of power distribution poles in Dawar. A round of meets with spot-surveys, thrashed out these issues. There were proposals for cables in-between the avalanche-prone areas as well as underground laying of lines, in some parts.

A proposal at the secretary-level talks held in August 2021 was to reinforce poles by putting two or three poles where a single one was proposed. “Yes, that too was admitted”, a high-level officer in the power department admits. Along with two substations each of132/33 Kv levels each of 20 MVA with 25 to 30-meter high Transmission Towers. The top-notch Engineers met on this, where an eminent technical team of electrical, electronics, and communication engineers presented solutions and proposals to the hurdles was finally vetted by Central Electricity Authority. However, it still awaits sanction by the Union Ministry of Power. “Thus the timeline for fully functional hydropower supply to Gurez is still in abeyance, subject to the nod and assent of the union ministry”- a senior source connected with the project confided. Two power substations in the Gurez sector would mean the power needs of the next 10-15 years could be met and fulfilled. This would offer a powerhouse push to the expansion of the tourism silhouette of the quaint beauty of this border area with Pakistan.

Presentation of paper by locals of Gurez’s power scenario at meetings

A letter outlining the scenario of Gurez, reads- “There is no central electric supply in Gurez, although, a hydro-electric plant is under construction since 2009 by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). There are high capacity diesel generators placed in each locality in villages to supply timed & restricted power supply to each household at subsidized rates. The fuel storage, management & maintenance of generators in winters remain an issue. There is a plan to tap the existing structure of the dam in Khapuri by adding three turbine units of 0.8 MW capacities each, to generate 2.4 MW power to be supplied to Gurez sub div. However, the award of tender for this job is still under the program, therefore, no timeline can be assessed. A High Tension (HT) power line coming from Bandipore is not functional due to wx & trn issues. Because of lack of proper & adequate supply of electricity, there is no significant industrial activity in the valley.” The letter outlines a number of issues about the state of power in Gurez presently.

Manipulation of resources

The Kishanganga hydroelectric project is under NHPC started in 2009’ with a sanctioned cost of the project at Rs 3642.04 Crores, later revised to Rs 5783.17 Crore, and became operational in 2018.

Life in the Gurez region with minus temperatures for the most part of the year is entirely dependent on diesel-run gensets. A place steeped in innocence and purity, being thus contaminated with pollution, amounts to an act of defilement. Especially so, when we cannot ignore climate crises, due to our growing carbon footprints, more so in fragile alpine zones that need to be reduced now more than ever before.

This also leads to other grave issues. Some of these are for instance – (1) Genuine diesel shortages are played upon, as a political rallying point. (2) Diesel pilferages become a source of corruption. (3) Accidental spillage or leakage of combustible liquid, could badly damage the ecology of the unspoiled land. Thus, it is imperative to look at alternate and cleaner sources of energy for the land that too for sustainable living, plus its prosperity.

Kishanganga emotive voting issue

No MLAs of Gurez including Nazir Gurezi, former Deputy Speaker and sitting MLA heading the NC party in this area, and Fakir Khan, former MLA from Tulail- the choice of BJP to stand for MLA this time, can afford to avoid the issue of Electric Power to Gurez. They dare not. Naturally, the power supply to Gurez issue takes the top spot as the most emotive issue in poll manifestoes. Both political parties do not spare even the NHPC (National Hydro Power Corporation) and freely bash up Hydro Power Corp for procuring and using local resources for generating power and not providing electricity to the region.

However, NHPC sources say they pay over Rs 600 Crore to J&K State as water cess annually and J&K is the only State where NHPC pays water charges and then supplies 12% free power to the State, sources add. However, the issue hangs till the Central Government’s nod and awaits power supply in Gurez people here pray for early work on the ground. With distribution lines fully commissioned, and suitable logistics in place for prompt repairs and maintenance, thereon, the region will pick up exponentially as a hub for many activities.

I only hope and pray the activities are least corrosive to ecological damage and lucrative for the prosperity of the people of Gurez.

Michael Nenanav, a writer who visited Gurez in 2008 and then in 2018 after the construction of the dam that led to displacement wrote “The displacements during the making of Kishanganga dam had led to flooding villages”, he remembers “Badwan is now wiped out, as river water consumed it”, he writes in an article -“In the journey to Kashmir’s Gurez valley” published in New York Times. And, further recorded,-“Displacement leads to de-peasantization, displacement, causes collateral damage of loss of culture, language, identity, and dispossession of land, besides a total wipeout of history of an area and its people”.

Nasir Gurezi, who rose from humble roots to become MLA and deputy speaker, tells me, ‘Gurez rues that during the conception and construction of the dam, they could not demand an all-weather tunnel, that Kargil has, and dedicated power supply to Gurez “It was a case of regret and a ‘monumental’ missed opportunity”. The electricity woes are also majorly on the manifesto and agenda of Fakir Khan of BJP, a former MLA, who met me at Kaka Palace Hotel.

Is solar energy possible in Gurez?

In this scenario would solar energy benefit? “To an extent, yes,” articulates CEO Khalid Mehmood of Science &Technology Department, Kashmir. Solar Street lighting and home lighting systems were provided to the people of Gurez over time. He also adds “A hydropower project has been planned of 25 MW on a tributary of Kishanganga. Leh and Kargil are connected with the main grid; similarly, other areas- Kupwara and Gurez are also proposed to be connected to the grid.

On a query about whether solar cookware would be beneficial as an energy saver for the Gurezis – he responds “We have also provided box-type solar cookers to people in Gurez.”