The portion of the guard wall that has collapsed. Picture by Prabin Khaling

Gangtok, June 3: The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) will shut down its 510mw Teesta Stage V power plant tomorrow to carry out immediate repairs on the damaged wall of its reservoir in Dikchu.

“For the past few days, because of heavy rainfall, the Teesta had been bringing in a large amount of silt from its upper catchment areas. This was being deposited in the reservoir near the sluice gates of the dam. We will flush out the silt so that the water level goes down,” said the project chief of NHPC, D. Bandyopadhyay, when contacted over the phone in Balutar, 28km from here.

The wall collapsed when it failed to bear the pressure of the rising water because of siltation. Bandyopadhyay said the silt deposit was 10 metres high.

“We will also restore the damaged wall for we are concerned about the safety of the people in Dikchu. For that purpose we require a 24-hour shutdown of the power plant,” the project chief said.

The people of Dikchu town had been spending sleepless nights since Friday when a portion of the 120ft-high protection wall on the bank of the Teesta gave way. Locals said there were 18 houses near the wall and some of them have even developed cracks.

Yesterday, the subdivisional magistrate of East district, A.B. Karki, had visited Dikchu.

“The situation is quite serious and after the sluice gates were opened, the water level has come down a bit. We have asked the NHPC to take up restoration immediately and they have agreed,” Karki said.

Today, NHPC officials held a meeting with the district collector and representatives of the administrative.

“There will not be much impact on the power situation in the state as Sikkim draws only 12 per cent of its daily generation from this plant. The rest we supply to the Power Grid Corporation,” said the public relations officer of the NHPC, Raghunath Jhoor.

The hydel power major will suffer a production loss of Rs 1.32 crore for one day’s shutdown, he said.