Excessive silt and trash halts power generation at Stage-V

GANGTOK, 24 Sept: The NHPC has has temporarily shut down power generation at Teesta Stage-V power station due to excessive silt and trash in the Teesta. An NHPC press release informs that generation was stopped on 22 September at 7:50 a.m. Stage-V has its dam at Dikchu and power station at Sirwani near Singtam.
The several landslides upstream in North Sikkim have loaded Teesta with excessive silt and debris, convincing NHPC to stall generation “as a preventive measure”.
Excessive silt can damage the underwater components of the turbine and presence of high volumes of trash in the reservoir restricts the flow of water to the machine, the release explains.
D. Chattopadhyay, Chief Engineer in-charge, Teesta-V Power Station, has assured that the power station will resume generation after “getting the silt and trash content in the water within the permissible limit”.