Telangana discoms face heavy burden after KRMB’s latest diktat

The KRMB recently sent a letter to the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments, urging them not to use water from the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar reservoirs for hydropower generation. The board reminded both states that, according to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014, Krishna water should be prioritized for drinking and irrigation, with hydropower generation given minimal importance. It warned that indiscriminate water usage could lead to serious shortages for drinking and irrigation in the future.

Hyderabad: With the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) issuing orders asking the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments to stop using water from Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar reservoirs for hydropower generation, the State-run power distribution companies (Discoms) are facing a heavy financial burden as they are forced to purchase additional power from the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX).

Recently, the KRMB wrote a letter to the Telangana and AP governments asking them not to use water from Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar reservoirs for hydropower generation. The board reminded that as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act-2014, Krishna water should be used only for drinking and irrigation purposes and hydropower generation should be given least priority. It has warned that if water was used indiscriminately, there would be serious problems for drinking and irrigation water in the future.

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The power generation is depleting the Srisailam reservoir’s water levels by nearly 6.25 tmc per day. The KRMB authorities say that such usage could empty the entire project, jeopardizing the interests of farmers in Rayalaseema.

This has put the Telangana government in a difficult situation as it has to now purchase additional power from the open market to meet the power demand in the State. Sources say after receiving the letter, TGGENCO has reduced power generation from these two reservoirs. The power generation through hydro power plants, which was 2.84 crore units on November 5 came down to 37 lakh units on November 15, as GENCO stopped power generation from Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar reservoirs.

As hydel generation has stopped, the State government in order to fill the gap between the demand and the supply has started purchasing power from the open market. While thermal power generation costs around Rs.8-10 per unit, hydel power costs just around Rs 2-3 per unit.

During the monsoon, the Krishna river received huge inflow, which helped in increasing hydropower generation and saved more than Rs.1,000 crore to the Discoms. Due to heavy floods this year, 444.70 crore units were produced from April 1 to November 15.

However, the KRMB’s latest diktat has dashed GENCO‘s hopes of reaching 600 crore units by next March by asking the State government not to use water from Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar reservoirs for hydropower generation.