Landslip hits Sonapani power generation

SHILLONG: The landslip on Saturday at Bishop Falls, Lower Mawprem, has affected the British-era Sonapani hydel project.
Besides the power project, two houses with 15 tenants were also affected due to the landslip.
The fallen debris is yet to be removed by the concerned authorities.
An official said on Tuesday that around 100 meter power channel (drain) which carries water from Umkhrah to the weir (low head dam) was damaged due to the natural calamity, affecting the power generation.
With this, power generation of the mini hydel project has been reduced to around 700 kilowatt from 1.5 MW.
The heritage hydel project was first commissioned in 1922 and after supplying electricity to Shillong for more than six decades, the project was shut down in April 1982 as the machines had outrun their utility.
The project was revived in 2001 and the construction work for the Rs 9.88-crore project began in 2004. Commercial power generation started in 2010 and the government commissioned the project in 2011.