IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2020 - 89

British got the contract for city electrification and lighting works.
The Mohra Power Scheme, with its
initial capacity of 5,400 hp, was inaugurated by Maharaja Pratap Singh, the ruler
of the state, in 1908. For the first time,
electrical power flowed through wires to
Baramulla to dredge the Jhelum River
and then to Srinagar, lighting the city,
running the silk factory and the mills,
and so on. The groundbreaking ceremony had taken place three years earlier, on
26 May 1905, near Baniar. The power
scheme, along with laying the transmission lines, was completed by 15 August
1908. The project, including generation,
transmission, and distribution, cost 50
lakh rupees (US$1.66 million). The main
difficulties encountered in its execution included building one of the longest
wooden flumes for conveying water (See
"Description of the Wooden Flume"),
the transportation of equipment (5,000
packages) to the site using bullock carts
along the toughest terrain, and arranging
to import labor from distant parts of the
country, which were prone to epidemics
such as cholera. The machinery sailed
from America, traversing the Atlantic
Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal,
and Indian Ocean. Thereafter, it crossed
the Indian subcontinent by railroad and
then traveled 160 mi by cart road through
the mountains.
By the end of the British Raj in 1947,
Mohra remained the main source of
electrical power in the valley. The importance of the Mohra hydropower station stemmed from the fact that Srinagar
and other major towns in the valley were
dependent on the facility. Hardly anyone
would have realized that someday the
Mohra powerhouse would be targeted
and vandalized and that, five decades
later, it would be devoured by the same
Jhelum River that it was built to tame
and from which it derived its energy. Its
unique quality was the iconic wooden
flume that carried its water and that was
in use for nearly 100 years. Today, the
flume is the only remnant of the historic
installation. It can be seen on the mountain slopes along with some of the buildings that were utilized as workshops
(such as the forge and smithy), stores,
september/october 2020

and operator quarters, all of which are in
a dilapidated condition.

Inauguration
The great Mohra hydropower installation was formally opened on 21 September 1908. Maharaja had invited
great dignitaries for the inauguration.
Some of the famous ones were British
resident Sir Francis Younghusband and
his wife, Lady Younghusband; Minister of Public Works Dewan Amar Nath;
Chief Minister Sir Amar Singh; Reverend C. Biscoe; Major Alain de Lotbiniere, R.E., and his wife; Captain J.
Hunter; and others. The maharaja was
a progressive ruler who committed his
government to, and took a personal interest in, the completion of the scheme.
Amid the beautiful surroundings and
the perfect weather, the guests were
entertained at a lunch that he hosted.
Then, the entire party proceeded to the
powerhouse, wherein the ceremonies
took place.
Despite many obstacles, the power
generation project became operational
on exactly the date that was originally
planned. While welcoming the various
benefits that the state hoped to accrue,
the maharaja expressed appreciation
to those whose zeal and untiring labor brought the scheme to a successful
completion. The architect and executor
of the endeavor, de Lotbiniere, deserved
and received the highest gratitude of the
maharaja. The ruler thanked A.C. Jewett, the construction engineer, for his
hard work and extended his gratitude
to Hunter and others who were involved
with the execution. Then he invited his
friend Younghusband to address the
gathering. Younghusband gave a speech
outlining the monumental works that
had been constructed on the Jhelum
under the supervision of de Lotbiniere,
who had estimated that 1 million hp
could be developed from the falling waters in the valley. Thus, he said, "... the
Durbar lately came to realize how much
they were losing and, hearing that Major de Lotbiniere had carried through a
very successful scheme ... in Mysore ...
invited him ... to draw up a scheme for
utilizing the water power here. ... The

result of that ... we shall see in a few
minutes. ... When I open the nozzle, it
will be converted into electric power ...
transmitted along the wires to Baramulla ... to operate a fleet of dredgers
which will ... save Kashmir from
floods." After inaugurating the Mohra
project, on the next morning, the party
proceeded to Baramulla to inaugurate
the greatest electric dredging scheme
undertaken anywhere in the world.

Hydropower Scheme
Maharaja had engaged the services of
Canadian engineer de Lotbiniere to develop the plan for harnessing electrical
power from the Jhelum. The preliminary investigations and reconnaissance
survey for the works were completed
by de Lotbiniere in 1904. His recommendations were accepted by Kashmir
Durbar, and it was decided to commence construction during the spring
of the following year. The plant site at
Mohra was determined by the consideration of the load centers at that time.
It was a run-of-the-river scheme, and no
storage was provided. The water channel and powerhouse were to be built for
the ultimate power capacity of 200,000 hp;
however, initially, only 5,400 hp produced by four water wheels of 1,765 hp
were planned because of a lack of demand (Figure 2).
The Jhelum River had to be tapped at
a sufficient elevation so that the working
head of 400 ft was available at the powerhouse to generate the required electricity. A low head would have meant using
slow-speed turbines with a large diameter, which would have been costly and
presented difficulties with transporting
the equipment. The head works/tapping
was located opposite to the ancient temple at Baniar, 45 mi from Srinagar on
the Jhelum Valley Road, with the forebay and powerhouse at Mohra, roughly
6.5 mi farther down. The most challenging part of the scheme was to make an
artificial channel for conveying water
from the Jhelum River at Baniar to the
powerhouse at Mohra along the mountain slopes. Only about one-third of the
length of the artificial channel was built
of masonry, with the remaining portion
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IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2020

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