The project area is situated in the southern slopes of Meghalaya, in the foot hills adjoining the international boundary with Bangladesh. The different sites of the project including the tunnel area are located in different geological formations having diverse lithological character. The main components of the proect include the 59 metres high Leshka Dam which is located on the Myntdu river, 100 metres downstream of Leshka, the tri junction of Umshakiang, Myntdu and Lamu rivers at a longitude of 92015' E and latitude 25010' N. The stored water is conducted through a 4 Km. long water conductor system comprising of a tunnel, surge shaft, high pressure tunnel and penstock pipes to the power house on the river bank of Lynriang river, housing two machines of 42 MW each.

The nearest railhead of the project is Guwahati, at a distance of 200 Km. Guwahati to Shillong is 103Km, Shillong to Jowai is 66 Km., and Jowai to Leshka dam site is 40 Km . The Leshka dam site can be negotiated at present by a jeepable road from Pdengshakap. The Lynriang power house can be approached from Lad Rymbai via Sushen village. This section will require construction of a new road. The location map of the Myntdu (Leshka) H.E. Project has been given in the Map above.

While the investigation works of Myntdu river were taken up, the implementing authority took special care to ensure that the project will have the least impact on the environment and that there will be no displacement of any villages. In fact, two projects further upstream of Leshka near Jowai, namely, Selim and Sushen would have facilitated big storage reservoirs and much bigger projects than the one at hand which were identified by Central Electricity Authority. The sole reason for not taking them up was that it would have submerged a large number of thickly populated villages and cultivable land.

 THE MYNTDU RIVER

The Myntdu River, in its upper reaches originates, from the place Mih Myntdu at an elevation of 1372 metres (4500 ft) and flows towards the south for a distance of about 10 Km. with the steep gradient upto an elevation of about 1220 metres. From this point, the river takes a sharp bend towards the east and flows in that direction for a distance of about 11Km. In the next 27 Km., the river gradually drops by about 595 metres (1950ft) and flows mostly through narrow valleys towards the south west for the first 16 Km. Over the next 11 Km, it flows towards the south upto an elevation of approximately 595 metres (1950 ft) near Leshka where two tributaries of Myntdu, namely, Umshakiang from the west and Lamu from the east meet the Myntdu river. Leshka is named after the aforesaid tri junction of rivers.

A CONCISE NOTE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROJECT

From the statement of demand and surplus position of electric power, it was revealed that the North Eastern Region had been consistently suffering from shortage of power in meeting the peak energy demand for the entire period during the past 10 years. The 15th Electric Power Survey indicated the following peak demand and energy requirement for Meghalaya.

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