Sumera Hydroelectric Power Plant is one of the oldest hydroelectric power plants or hydel power stations in India. It is located at Sumera Dariyapur in Jawan Sikandarpur of Aligarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Approach

Jawan Sikandarpur is situated on the Aligarh- Moradabad Highway ( Anoopshahar Road) at a distance of from Aligarh. It is from

Qasimpur Power House Colony Qasimpur Power House Colony is a census town in Aligarh district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established for the employees of Harduaganj Thermal Power Station. It is situated on Aligarh-Moradabad highway at a distance of 16&nbs ...

and from Harduaganj Thermal Power Station. The building of the Sumera Hydroelectric Power Plant is situated just near the Highway where the Ganges Canal (or the Ganga Canal) flows under the Jawan Bridge (also spelled as Jawaa Bridge).

History

Establishment of Jawan Sikandarpur and Sumera Dariyapur

Raja Kulan Singh had three sons,

Jauhar Singh Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar, was a Hindu practice of mass self-immolation by women, in the Indian subcontinent, to avoid capture, enslavement and rape by an invading army, when facing certain defeat during a war. Some reports ...

, Sumer Singh and

Tikam Singh Tikam Singh (born 28 January 1968) was an Indian cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman who played for Himachal Pradesh. He was born in Solan. Singh, who made his cricketing debut for the Under-15 team in 1983, made a single first-class appear ...

. The elder son Jauhar Singh established Jawan Sikandarpur. Sumera Dariyapur was named after Sumer Singh.

The origins and development of hydroelectric and thermal power systems in India

Most of the early power generating stations,(including Sumera) which were developed when India was a colony of the British, were hydro-electric in nature. These pre-independence generating stations fed loads in the urban areas and electrification of the villages was done mostly after 1947.

Establishment of the power plant

Sumera Hydroelectric Power Plant was established by the British in 1931. The electricity generated from this plant was sufficient for the small population of Aligarh at that time. It is situated just near the Jawan Bridge. The building itself is a masterpiece of British architecture, combined with both beauty and strength. It was a small hydro plant. Its power capacity was 2,000 kW. A brief description of the building, location and date was written on a name-plate fixed high on the front elevation. (Shown in the 3rd photograph from the above). It reads as : "''Ganges Canal Hydro-electrical Power Supply Sumera 1931''"

Water source and the construction of the dams

The Ganges Canal (or the Ganga Canal) was used as a source of water for generating electricity. A dam was constructed on the Ganges Canal for the purpose. Another dam was also constructed near the Communical Health Centre. Therefore, the dams constructed on the Ganges Canal in Jawan Sikandarpur are as follows: (i) Jawan Dam was constructed near the Sumera Hydroelectric Power Plant to use the Ganges Canal as a source of water for generating electricity from the Sumera Hydroelectric Power Plant. Over the Jawan Dam, a bridge called as the Jawan Bridge was constructed, over which the Aligarh- Moradabad Highway passes now. (ii)

Ganga Dam The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

was constructed near the Communical Health Centre.

Other power stations in or around Aligarh

* Harduaganj Thermal Power Station in Aligarh. *

NTPC Dadri National Capital Power Station (NCPS) or NTPC Dadri, is the power project to meet the power demand of National Capital Region (India). It has a huge coal-fired thermal power plant and a gas-fired plant and has a small township located in Uttar ...

in Dadri, Gautam Budh Nagar. *

Palra Hydroelectric Power Plant Palra is the name of the following Indian villages: * Palra, Gurgaon, Haryana * Palra (Jhajjar), Haryana, birthplace of Victoria Cross recipient Umrao Singh * Palra (Hamirpur), Uttar Pradesh * Palra, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh * Palra (Meerut), Ut ...

in Bulandshahar. *

Narora Atomic Power Station Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS) is a nuclear power plant located in Narora, Dibai Tehsil, Bulandshahar District in Uttar Pradesh, India. Reactors The plant houses two reactors, each a pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR) capable of p ...

in Bulandshahar. *

Faridabad Thermal Power Station Faridabad Thermal Power Station is located in the New Industrial Township of the Indian city of Faridabad, from the capital Delhi. The power plant is one of the coal-based power plants owned by Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited. Prese ...

in Faridabad. In total there are 13 power stations in Uttar Pradesh and 110 power stations in India.

Upper Ganga Canal power projects

There are 13 small waterfalls on the

Upper Ganga Canal The Ganges Canal or Ganga Canal is a canal system that irrigates the Doab region between the Ganges River and the Yamuna River in India. The canal is primarily an irrigation canal, although parts of it were also used for navigation, primaril ...

starting from Haridwar (where the

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

enters the plains) to Aligarh. These power houses (along with their power capacity) are mentioned here: : (i)

Bahadurabad Bahadurabad ( ur, ) is one of the neighbourhoods of Gulshan Town, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It is located in the Civic Centre zone in the Gulshan Town. It was originally inhabited by mainly middle class Hyderabadi Muslim refugees from Hyd ...

(Bahadurabad and Salempur Waterfalls) (with the power capacity of 4,400 kW) : (ii)

Pathari Pathari is a town in Vidisha district, Many tourist attractions in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Geography Pathari is located at . It is located close to a lake on a hillock with an elevation of 550 metres. There are ancient ruins ...

in Haridwar (2 lakh kW) : (iii) Mohammedpur in Haridwar (3,000 kW) : (iv) Nirgajni in Muzaffarnagar (5,000 kW) : (v) Chittora in Muzaffarnagar (3,000 kW) : (vi) Salawa in Meerut (3,000 kW) : (vii) Meerut (2,700 kW) : (viii) Palra in Bulandshahar (6,000 kW) : (ix) Sumera in Aligarh (2,000 kW) Most of the power energises tube-wells which irrigate 14 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

The current status

Currently the Sumera Hydroelectric Power Plant is not operational. At present Sumera Hydroelectric Power Plant and

in Bulandshahar have both been abandoned.

References

{{Coord, 28, 02, 26.54, N, 078, 06, 51.06, E, display=inline,title Hydroelectric power stations in Uttar Pradesh Energy infrastructure completed in 1931 Aligarh district Dams in Uttar Pradesh 1931 establishments in India 20th-century architecture in India