Vijayawada: In a goodwill gesture, Andhra Pradesh authorities have given permission to Telangana government for generating hydroelectric power at the Pulichintala Project, after the reservoir has almost filled to its full capacity.
Pulichintala is reaching the brim mainly with inflows from River Musi following heavy rains in Hyderabad and from upstream projects on Krishna River. The current water level at the reservoir is 173.49 feet against FRL of 175 feet. The storage has reached 43.45 tmc ft (93.86 percent) against gross capacity of 45.77 tmc ft.
As authorities have to maintain a cushion for floods, 6,500 cusecs of water is being discharged from Pulichintala. As downstream Prakasam Barrage too is full with gross storage capacity at FRL of 3.07 tmc ft, but is continuing to get inflows of 10,295 cusecs, the barrage is releasing 13,579 cusecs of water into the sea.
Given the background, AP government has asked Telangana government to resume power generation from its Pulichintala hydro power plant, which has an installed capacity of 120 mw. Since Sunday, two of four power units of the plant are being run to generate 30 mw of power each.
Earlier, TS had generated hydroelectric power from Pulichintala Project without any permission, though it subsequently stopped it.
Pulichintala superintending engineer J. Ramesh Babu said, “As the reservoir is filling up to the brim with inflows from Musi River and other sources, AP government has given permission to TS for stating power generation as per requirement to avoid water going waste into the sea.”
AP authorities are, however, concerned that TS government has enhanced power generation without authorisation from its power plant at Srisailam by operating four units of 150 mw capacity each, unlike only one unit previously.
Following rainfall in catchment areas of Krishna River upstream, water level in Srisailam reservoir has risen to 837.07 ft, with current storage being 57.68 tmc ft (26.73 percent) of total 215.81 tmc ft. Inflow in Srisailam is 1,36,612 cusecs while outflow is 28,252 cusecs of water. TS government is also generating power from its Jurala hydro power plant following heavy inflow of water from upstream projects like Almatti and Narayanapur. Telangana is releasing water from Jurala after generating power, so that it could further generate power at Srisailam.
AP water resources authorities point out that only if water level at Srisailam Reservoir reaches 840–850 ft, good inflows will be available for Pothireddypadu Reservoir, which, in turn, will help fill Somasila and Kandaleru reservoirs, among others. These facilitate supply of water for drinking and cultivation purposes to Kurnool, Kadapa, Chittoor, and Nellore districts. Moreover, AP also has to ensure assured water supply of 15 tmc ft to Chennai for drinking purposes.
The current level of water at Nagarjunasagar Dam is 532.30 ft with storage of 173.66 tmc ft (55.65 percent), against gross capacity of 312.05 tmc ft. Nagarjunasagar is getting inflows of 18,880 cusecs while outflow is mere 500 cusecs.
