The construction of new Bong Escape Hydropower Project with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank is expected to begin in December 2005 with a targeted commercial operation date of December 2008.
According to official source, the total cost is estimated at about $125 million. The Project will be constructed on design and build basis. One contractor will be awarded a comprehensive contract covering detailed design, civil works construction, installation of mechanical and electrical equipment and machines, test run, and commissioning.
The New Bong Escape Hydropower Project was originally conceived as a 45 MW run-of-the-river hydropower project. The Project is classified by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as environmental category B. No people reside at the project site and no indigenous peoples live in the surrounding area.
The Project will divert part of the flow of the Bong Canal, which currently discharges into the Jhelum River through the New Bong escape channel, into the new project head race channel to drive four sets of low-head bulb turbine generators before discharging into the Jhelum River through the Project tailrace channel.
The electricity generated will be fed into the existing 132 KV Mangla-Kharian transmission lines passing over the site. The project tailrace channel will be constructed by excavating the Hari channel to drop its water level to create enough head, about 10-13m, to operate the turbines.
For flood protection, an embankment will be constructed running parallel to the project tailrace channel. The existing New Bong escape channel structure will be improved to protect the embankment of the tailrace channel. This will involve building an embankment along the New Bong escape channel to guide the flow to the main channel of the Jhelum River.
Likewise, the Project will reinforce the Old Bong escape channel against any possible erosion caused by the drop in the water level in the Hari channel after it begins operating as the tailrace channel. This will be achieved by re-aligning the channel and building a subsidiary outfall.
The project area is a part of the Jhelum Valley and is the flood plain of the Jhelum River. The area is dissected by several artificial drains and natural streams that drain into the Jhelum River. The prevailing geological conditions at the project site are a result of extensive erosion of the hills of the lower Himalayas and transportation and deposition of this eroded material southward.
Construction records from the Mangla dam and the Bong canal indicate that the rock exposures nearest to the site are about 1,300-1,400 m downstream of the Mangla tailrace and about 6,000 m north-west from the proposed site.