The Bhutanese | July 20, 2024
After years of negotiations the Technical Coordination Committee (TCC) are agreed on building the dam for the 1,200 MW Punatsangchu I project.
Both sides have also agreed that along with the dam, protection measures for the troubled right bank will also be constructed at the same time as the dam.
The studies had found that the rock on the right bank or the Right Hill Side (RHS) was fractured in several places after bore drillings.
They will now propose and go ahead with protection methods and measures for the right bank.
Till date there was no detailed projection measures for the right bank.
One of the major rectification measures that is expected is a protection wall on the right bank along with various other measures.
The mitigation measures on the right-bank side will go into whether the muck overhead needs to be removed or not, concreting the right bank and other measures.
A source said that PHPA Authority meeting is likely to take place this month where the dam is expected to be given a go ahead based on the proposal of the TCC along with the necessary protection methods and measures for the right bank.
This also makes it clear that the Bhutanese side dropped its demand for a barrage in exchange for thorough rectification measures on the right bank.
The agreement at the TCC level between the two sides now clears the way for the project to go ahead as the dam was the final component that was left.
A major concern for the Bhutanese side was the long-term safety of the dam and this is why there was initially no agreement between both the sides, and the Bhutanese side only budged after major mitigation measures are being agreed to.
Last year, Bhutan and India agreed to drill multiple rock samples into the right bank area to check for its stability to see if a dam is feasible or not.
The rocks showed fractures along the whole right bank in lots of places where boreholes have been done.
On the Bhutanese side the main focus was on the need for a thorough mitigation and right bank stability before the dam could even be brought up.
In 2008 the then PHPA MD R.N Khazanchi proposed to change the original dam site to generate more power which was agreed to by the then cabinet.
Some studies showed weaknesses on the right bank but instead of exploring it the project consultants decided to go ahead with the construction.
The first slide was in 2013 and rectification measures were done but it failed in 2016 and more rectification measures were done but it again failed in 2019.
This is when detailed studies were called for and done with the Bhutanese side proposing a barrage and the Indian side saying a dam can be done.
Now the main thing ahead is to see how comprehensive the rectification measures are.
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