KRMB asks Telangana, Andhra Pradesh to stop power generation at Srisailam Dam

With the water level in Srisailam Reservoir fast depleting, the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) has asked the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments to stop withdrawal of water for power generation at the Srisailam Dam.

The Board had recently written a letter to both the governments to immediately stop power generation as the water level at the reservoir was depleting at a very fast pace creating problems for water allocated for irrigation and drinking purposes.

According to the Board, the minimum drawdown level of water for Srisailam Dam has been fixed at 805 feet, whereas the current water level at the Dam stood at 804.70 feet. The Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of Srisailam is 885 feet and the gross capacity is 215.81 TMC.

However, the current gross capacity has fallen to 34.40 TMC, hence it was not advisable to continue power generation as there could be shortage of water for irrigation and drinking water purposes in both the Telugu States, the letter stated.

Even the inflow has come down to 235 cusecs, which is much less compared to 811.10 cusecs last April during the same



period. Telangana is reportedly drawing nearly 0.5 to 0.6 TMC of water from Srisailam dam for power generation per day.

The KRMB had asked the two States to explore new avenues for power as water was a limited resource and it could not be utilised to meet the rising demand for power. The Srisailam Left Power House has six 150 MW units, with generation capacity of 900 MW per day, whereas, the total installed capacity at Srisailam Right Power House is 770 MW(seven power generators, each with a capacity of 110 MW).

However, Telangana Irrigation officials said the State was not wasting water as it was using it for meeting power exigencies and letting the water into Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir which could be used by the two Telugu States.

According to Chief Minister’s Officer on Special Duty (Irrigation) Sridhar Rao Deshpande, there was no need to worry about the availability of water in the State as the reservoirs have sufficient water to meet the demands of the State. “All the water bodies in the State have enough water to meet irrigation and drinking water needs,” he said.