Neelum-Jhelum power project: Court rejects petition against laying of transmission line

Petitioners argued high-voltage line poses threat to life and property

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court dismissed on Friday a petition filed against the laying of high-voltage transmission line for the Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric power plant that would pass through a village in Murree.

Disposing of the petition, Justice Athar Minallah noted that since ownership of the land from where the transmission line would pass was not clear, the court could not address controversies.

Muhammad Ishfaq and Muhammad Kamil through their counsel Muhammad Shafqat Abbasi said the high-voltage line could not be installed near populated areas as it would adversely affect the movement, daily routine work, health, safety and security of the petitioners and their family members. The counsel argued that the respondents ignored that the transmission line would increase the danger of lightening during thunderstorm, adding it would result in loss of property and lives. He also said that the respondents’ act was in violation of the environmental protection laws.

The transmission line is part of the under-construction Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric power project, a run-of-the-river scheme designed to divert water from the Neelum River to a power station on the Jhelum River.

The power station is located in Azad Kashmir - 22 kilometres south of Muzaffarabad - and will have an installed capacity of 969 megawatts. Construction work on the project began in 2008 after a Chinese consortium was awarded contract in July 2007.

The first generator is scheduled to be commissioned in July 2017 and the entire project is expected to be completed in December 2017. The counsel asked the court to restrain the respondents from installing and constructing foundation of the high-voltage transmission line on an area of two kilometres in Sandhian village of Murree tehsil.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2016.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.