Assam: 3 NEEPCO personnel killed after power plant turbine flooded

Guwahati, March 27 (IANS) Three employees, including two engineers of the government-owned North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), were killed after a turbine of the dam got flooded and exploded at Khandang hydropower project in Assam's Dima Hasao district on Saturday, officials said.

NEEPCO officials added that following incessant rain in the upper reaches of Meghalaya, the dam of the NEEPCO power plant flooded and several trees were uprooted killing engineer Anupam Saikia, Manager Jayanta Hazarika and another contract staffer Dimraj Johri on the spot.

The sudden entry of a large amount of water into the turbine of the power project caused extensive damage, but exact volume of damage was yet to be ascertained, the NEEPCO official said.

Local people suspect that few more people might have been trapped in the flood accompanied by huge landslides.

Senior NEEPCO officials and experts have rushed to the site and rescue as well as further investigation was underway.

The NEEPCO officials said a similar such mishap occurred in the Dima Hasao district on October 7, 2019, killing four employees of the company.