The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) is mourning over the loss of three lives in a power plant disaster in Umrangso, Assam, yesterday.
Three NEEPCO employees – deputy manager Anupam Saikia, contract labourer Demiraj Johari and manager Jayanta Hazarika – died in the incident, the first two on the spot and the latter later at a health facility.
“While NEEPCO deeply mourns the loss of the precious lives of its fraternity, it is fully committed to extend their dependent family members with relief measures as per the company’s policy and provide them with all the support to the extent possible,” a company press release said today.
A large portion of a powerhouse of the Kopili Hydroelectric Project in Assam’s Dima Hasao was damaged due to sudden rising of the water level in the Kopili River due to heavy rains further upstream.
At around 10:45am a temporary barrier constructed at the intake weir in the Khandong System was breached by rising water, which gushed into the ‘head race tunnel’ (HRT) and thereafter entered into both the power houses connected to the Khandong system. Both the power houses had been shut down since January on account of repair work.
Workmen and engineers engaged in the repairs were quickly evacuated.
A team of NEEPCO engineers and staff was deputed to oversee the process of lowering the surge shaft gate. While going to the surge shaft area, a large tree was uprooted and fell on the members of the team at around 1:40pm. The two deceased engineers and one workman were crushed in the incident.
A team of senior officers later reached the project sites to oversee emergency actions. The work of delinking the HRT and power house from the reservoir by lowering the intake gates has already been completed.
