Jai Prakash Associates Limited

Working up here in Kinnaur at the Karchham Wangtoo project is a whole different experience. Our office is at Sholtu, right near the 1000 Mw hydroelectric plant. It’s beautiful but the air is thin and it gets very cold in the winter. We spend a lot of our time in the Jai Prakash Associates Limited colony or at the project site itself. The office is built to handle the mountain environment. It’s sturdy and functional. We deal with a lot of technical stuff and logistics that come with being in a remote place like this. The roads can be tricky depending on the weather, so we always have to plan ahead. Inside the office, there’s always a heater going when the temperature drops. We have our maps on the walls and plenty of ledgers. It’s not a place for city folks who want fancy malls. It’s for people who don’t mind getting their boots dirty. We see the river and the mountains every single day. It reminds us of how big the project actually is. Most of us live right here in the staff quarters, so the work and life kind of blend together. We have our own little community. We share meals and talk about the progress of the work. It’s a tough environment but we’ve got a good routine going and we just keep at it. There is always work to be done in these hills. It is quiet today.