The Riverbed Powerhouse (RBPH) of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam, shut since July 3, because of shortfall water in the Narmada bowl, worked two of the six reversible turbines for five days from October 26 to October 31, to harmonize with the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas Celebrations held at the Statue of Unity.
The RBPH generated a total of 54.26 million units of hydropower in the five days, according to data of the Narmada Control Authority.
Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd. (SSNNL) officials said the running of the powerhouse was only for “maintenance” purposes, as the dam crossed the level of 131.5 m with an inflow of water from Madhya Pradesh, where the Indirasagar and Omkareshwar dams are generating hydropower.
Earlier, SSNNL had operated five of the six RBPH turbines on August 26, days ahead of the Gujarat state executive of the BJP held in Kevadia, generating 7.37 MUs of hydropower — also releasing water downstream Narmada, which was dry until August 26 due to the deficit monsoon this year. The RBPH turbines, which ran for over 46 hours between them on August 26, had run for two days in July 2021, before being shut for the season, and generated a total of 17.37 MUs of hydropower.
This year, the RBPH generated 14.29 MUs of hydropower on July 1 — the last day it functioned with all six functional turbines running for a total of 98 hours between them and 3.07 MUs on July 2 with five functional turbines running for about 21 hours. In June 2021, the RBPH generated power of 468.93 MUs and along with the Canal Head Power House (CHPH), the total hydropower generated in June was 515.72 MUs.
SSNNL officials said the RBPH had been shut Monday to maintain the level of the Narmada basin. On Monday, the Narmada dam recorded a level of 131.16 metres. On Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had visited Kevadia to preside over the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas celebrations.
