Culture and history info

In 1925, Raja Joginder Sen and Col. B. C. Batty planned a hydropower scheme near the village of Sukrahatti. Alexander Sanderson was chief engineer until December 1929, when he returned to England with the project half-completed. Narrow-gauge railway track was laid from Pathankot to Jogindernagar about 150 kilometres (93 mi) to carry heavy machinery transported from Britain. A haulage system was laid from the Shanam Power House site to Barot, where a reservoir was built on the Uhl River. After tunneling and piping the water several kilometres from the river to Jogindernagar, the 110 MW Shanan Power House was built by a team of engineers headed by Batty. It was the only hydroelectric project in northern India which fed undivided Punjab and Delhi. The hydroelectric scheme planned to build five power stations with water from the Uhl River. Water from the Shanan Power House was be by tunnels 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to adjoining Siyuri Dhar. A reservoir was be built in the village of Chapprot to drive turbines at the base of Chapprot Hill in stage two of the project. However, the plan was abandoned after Batty's death. During the 1960s, the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board revived the plan. Another set of turbines was added at Bassi (a small village at the bottom of Chapprot Hill) in 1970, and the 66-MW Bassi Power House was built. Despite the Bassi Power House's economy (since it was based on tailwater from the Shanan project), no further development was made until the beginning of the 21st century. Construction of the project's third stage, the 100-MW Uhl Stage III, is ongoing in the village of Chulla (near Tullah) with two reservoirs: one near Machhyal Lake and another in the village of Raktal (near Chulla). Until the mid-20th century, Jogindernagar was northern India's largest potato market. The potato-growing valleys were not linked by roads; over 2,000 mules from the Lahaul and Spiti valleys transported potatoes from outlying areas to Jogindernagar, the only railhead in that part of the state. Potatoes from Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts were brought there for transport to West Bengal.