Joginder Nagar or
Jogindar Nagar (
Hindi:
जोगिन्दर नगर [dʒoːˈɡɪnd̪ər nəˈɡər];
Punjabi:
ਜੋਗਿੰਦਰ ਨਗਰ;
Urdu:
جوگندر نگار) is a town and a
nagar panchayat in
Mandi district in the
Indian state of
Himachal Pradesh. Named after Raja Joginder Sen, Joginder Nagar is terminal point of 163
km long
Kangra Valley Narrow gauge railhead. Joginder Nagar is the only town in Asia to have 3 hydro-electric power stations, and hence it is popularly known as
The Electric City or
The City of Powerhouses.
In 1925, Raja Joginder Sen and
Col. B. C. Batty planned a
hydel power scheme near the village of Sukrahatti. A narrow-gauge railway track was laid from
Pathankot to
Joginder Nagar (1,220 m) to carry the heavy machinery transported from
Britain. A
Haulage-way system was laid from the site of
Shanan Power House to
Barot, where the reservoir was constructed on
Uhl river. After tunneling and piping the water over several kilometres from the river Uhl to Joginder nagar, the Shanan Power House (110
MW) was built by a team of engineers headed by Colonel Batty. Shanan Power House was the only hydroelectric project in northern India which fed undivided Punjab and Delhi.
The vision of the hydel project scheme was to construct five power stations using the same water that is drawn from the Uhl river. The used water of Shanan Power House was taken through various tunnels in adjoining Siyuri Dhar, to a distance of 8 km. A reservoir was constructed at the village Chapprot that would be used for driving turbines in stage 2 of project at the base of Chapprot hill. However, the plan could not be executed following the death of Colonel Batty.
Later in 1960s, the HP State Electricity Board decided to proceed further with the plan. In 1970, another set of turbines were added at Bassi, a small village situated at the bottom of Chapprot hill and
Bassi Power House (60
MW) came into existence.
Despite the fact that Bassi Power House was producer of cheapest hydro-electricity (since the project was based on tail-water of Shanan project), no further development was seen till the beginning of 21st century. The construction of third stage of project, Uhl Stage III (100
MW), was inaugrated at Tullah near the Machhyal Lake and is currently under progress.
