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Micro-hydel projects lying defunct
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, March 1
The Army may be claiming to bring light in lives of people living in far-flung villages of this border district by constructing the much-hyped micro-hydel projects under Operation Sadbhawna, but these have failed to serve the purpose and a majority of them are lying non-functional.

Most of these projects were rendered non-functional within a couple of days of their inauguration.

The micro-hydel project at Fatehpur, constructed by 48 RR (Garh Rifles), was inaugurated by Major-Gen A.C.Soneja, GOC, CIF (R), in February 2005. The motive behind the project was to supply electricity to 24 houses of Fatehpur village.

The project on Rajouri Nullah, which has been constructed on the water mill (Gharath), has one-room accommodation, a water chamber, turbine, alternator and cables. But, the one-room shed and the water collection chamber have been damaged, its turbine and alternator are defunct and cables are cut.

Residents of Fatehpur say that the project couldn't supply electricity, as it stopped functioning the day after it was inaugurated. "The Army authorities created much hype about the project. They told us that it will bring light in our lives and will supply round-the-clock electricity. But day after it was inaugurated, it never supplied electricity and most of the machinery is lying defunct," said a resident, who was to be one of the beneficiaries of the ambitious project.

"We have heard that they have claimed that the project was constructed at a cost of Rs 2.5 lakh, but I don't think that the machinery and the cost of constructing the chamber would be more than Rs 50,000. They have plundered precious government money."

The project constructed at Mangota in Thanamandi by 43 RR shares the same fate, with residents complaining that the project, inaugurated in January 2005, never functioned after being thrown open. "The Army authorities constructed this project in January 2005. We were told that it will supply uninterrupted power, but it never worked after its inauguration," said a resident, asking not to be named. "You can see the machinery is locked in the room and the cables are not there and have been stolen."

Defence sources revealed that of more than 60 such projects constructed by the Army in the frontier districts, a majority stopped functioning within days of their inauguration. They said that in December last year, the Army, in order to hide this “scam”, had organised the visit of Governor Lt-Gen S.K.Sinha (retd) to one of the few functional projects in Azmatabad, who lauded the efforts of the Army in lighting the lives of the villagers.