Power generation in the Ballari Thermal Power Station (BTPS) near Kuditini in Ballari may come to a complete halt by April-end due to severe water shortage. Only one unit with a capacity of 500 MW is working now. Two units have been shut down.
Given the receding water level in storage, supply to this unit also may go dry in 20 to 25 days, sources said. The BTPS, which has a total installed capacity of 1,700 MW, comprises two generating units with 500 MW each and another with a capacity of 700 MW.
BTPS uses 2.04 tmc ft of recycled water from Maralihalla in Koppal district which, in turn, gets water only when there is release for irrigation from the Tungabhadra reservoir.
As water was not released for irrigation for the second crop in 2015-16 and 2016-17, its main source went dry.
As an alternative, the Karnataka government permitted BTPS to draw water from the higher canal on the right bank of the Tungabhadra reservoirfor which pumps were installed and pipelines laid. However, the intake was limited as the release into the higher canal ended in November last.
To ensure that power generation was not hit, the government further permitted BTPS to draw water from the lower canal of the reservoir near Kampli by laying additional pumps and pipelines. Though water is supposed to flow through this canal for 10 to 11 months a year for irrigation, the release into it stopped earlier owing to severe water shortage.
The decision not to release water from Tungabhadra for irrigation was taken to cater to the drinking water needs of Koppal, Raichur and Ballari in Karnataka and Anantapur, Kurnool and Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh.
Clinging to hope
There is a last ray of hope for BTPS. The government may permit it to draw water from the lower canal when it is released for drinking. Even then, power generation can be prolonged only by a few more days. “We have presented the facts to the government and hope it will permit us to draw water from the lower canal. We will also approach the Deputy Commissioner of Ballari,” Mrutyunjaya, Executive Director of BTPS, told The Hindu .
