Collapse of NJ tunnel feared

A parliamentary panel was informed on Tuesday about the serious threat of collapse of the tunnel of Neelum – Jhelum project. Chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Tauseef Farooqi drew the attention of the parliamentary panel towards the serious threat pertaining to the closure of the tunnel of the Neelum-Jhelum project. Responding to queries at the Senate Standing Committee on Power, Farooqi said that the greatest fear relates to the question: “What will happen if the rest of the tunnel collapses?” He stated that the project has been closed since July 2022 and that an amount of Rs10 billion per month was being paid by consumers due to the closure. The Neelum-Jhelum power plant suffered a fault following the blockage of water in the tunnel area of 3.5 kilometres that led to the shutdown of the plant. This also took away 950 MW of electricity from the national grid amid prolonged power outages in the country. “If this tunnel remains closed for a year, consumers will suffer a loss of Rs1.2 billion,” Farooqi told the committee. Chairman of the Standing Committee, Senator Saifullah Abro expressed concern over the state of affairs at the key hydro-electric project of the country and asked the Nepra chairman for his views regarding the repair works.