Mohra Power Project, History, Features, Revival Plans, Role

The Jammu and Kashmir government has announced plans to revive the historic Mohra Power Project, in the backdrop of the Indus Water Treaty being kept in abeyance. 

About Mohra Power Project

• The Mohra Power Project is located on the banks of the Jhelum River in Boniyar, in the Uri sector of Baramulla district, North Kashmir.
• The project was commissioned in 1905, following the devastating floods of 1903, to support dredging operations along the Jhelum River.
• It was built as a run-of-the-river hydroelectric plant, initially with a generation capacity of around 5 MW.
• The plant’s turbines were imported from Czechoslovakia, and one of its most remarkable features was an 11-kilometre-long wooden flume, which carried water from Rampur to Mohra to drive the turbines, a low-impact engineering innovation for its time.
• After functioning for decades, the plant suffered extensive damage in the September 1992 floods, which affected its tailrace system and reduced power output to about 3 MW. Operations were eventually halted, leaving the plant defunct for several decades.

The Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) has initiated steps to renovate, modernize, and upgrade the Mohra Power Project. The revival of the Mohra Power Project is part of Jammu and Kashmir’s plan to significantly increase electricity production, aiming to raise the region’s power capacity from 3,540 MW to around 11,000 MW by 2035, particularly in view of uncertainties surrounding the Indus Water Treaty.

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