PANAJI
The mounting demand for power in Goa has made the Tamnar power transmission project, currently in limbo due to Karnataka government’s move to block it, a dire need of the State, Power Minister Ramkrishan Sudin Dhavalikar said on Tuesday.
Dhavalikar who was addressing a press conference alongwith Chief Electrical Engineer (CEE) Stephen Fernandes and other top engineers of the power department, also said that nearly 90 per cent of the work on Tamnar project has been completed and the balance will get done in the next couple of months.
“We will try to finish the balance facilities of the project by the end of August,” Dhavalikar said, adding that Karnataka should consider the project positively.
The Karnataka government has not cleared the project in its jurisdiction citing the Kali and Dandeli tiger reserves through which the transmission line will have to pass through.
Dhavalikar said there already exists an old power transmission line between Supe and Ponda via Anmod and the Supreme Court has endorsed the Tamnar line aligning with it through Karnataka without causing much damage.
“Karnataka needs to consider the project positively,” Dhavalikar said, adding that even if the neighbouring State does not clear it, the Tamnar infrastructure built in Goa will not go to waste but rather will be integrated to the intra-State grid which will help immensely.
According to the power minister, the peak load demand in Goa this year breached the 820 MW mark and future estimates suggest the State will need an additional 300-400 MW while the Tamnar project has the capacity to bring in supply of up to 1,200 MW.
