Minister for Water Resources M.B. Patil’s assurance to a Telangana delegation on releasing water from Narayanpur dam to Krishna river has been opposed by farmer leaders in Raichur. It has also triggered fear that this might affect power generation at the Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS).
Chamarasa Malipatil, State president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, said it was incorrect to release water to the neighbouring State when villages along the river in Karnataka were facing acute drinking water crisis.
According to sources in the Department of Water Resources, of the 13.5 tmcft available water in dam, only 5.2 tmcft is live storage that is strictly reserved for drinking and power generation purposes. It is also not possible to get water from Almatti Reservoir as the live storage there reached zero level two days ago.
“We don’t have any problem in releasing water to Telangana for drinking purposes when there is enough water for the same purpose in our State. Hundreds of villages in the course of Krishna, which are completely dependent on the river, are facing the worst crisis as the river has dried up. The available water should be preserved and prudently utilised,” said Mr. Malipatil.
As per sources in Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd., the RTPS — which Karnataka is heavily dependent on for its energy requirement — needs 100 cusecs of water at any given point to run all the eight units at optimal level. After five units, with an installed capacity of 210 MW each, suddenly shut down last month because of shortage of water for their cooling towers and posed a serious threat of power starvation in the State, KPTCL authorities, in coordination with Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd., managed to get some water released from Narayanpur dam into Googal barrage and resumed power generation.
Water release to Telangana may repeat the disruptions in RTPS, which in turn will have an adverse impact on State’s power sector.
Hundreds of villages in the course of Krishna, which are dependent on the river, are facing the worst crisis as the river has dried up. The available water should be preserved
Chamarasa Malipatil,State president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha
