Power, Irrigation Depts on Collision Course

Hyderabad: With pressure piling up over electricity supply and finances, the TG Transmission Corporation (Transco) has asked the irrigation department not just to optimise its pumping requirements, and made it clear that it was time for the irrigation department to cough up some of the piled-up arrears.

What triggered the Transco response appears to have been a request on March 19 from chief engineer of irrigation, Warangal, seeking a 24x7 power supply for operating Pumps I and II at the Devannapeta pump house of the Devadula lift irrigation scheme. The chief engineer at Transco, in charge of lift irrigation schemes, wrote back the very next day, wondering why the irrigation department had failed to prepare its operational plans to align with daytime pumping, when low-cost solar power would be available.

Saying that the “present request seeks continuous 24x7 operation, and appears to have been made at short notice,” Transco said, “it is not clear why such optimisation has not been undertaken, despite prior advisories and the prevailing financial position.”

With respect to the arrears by the irrigation department, Transco pointed out that the “total dues/energy charges payable by the irrigation department to discoms” for lift irrigation pumping stations had piled up to Rs 27,027 crore at the end of February. Transco said that the irrigation department should step up to ease the “financial stress being faced by the utilities” and immediately release at least `500 crore to enable continued support from the distribution companies to the irrigation department.

Transco said that multiple reminders were sent to the irrigation department regarding the dues as well as the need to reschedule pumping operations “predominantly during daytime hours in view of availability of lower cost solar power, and the significantly higher cost of supply during peak night and early morning hours,” adding, “also in view of the significant pendencies of payment dues.”

Transco “requested” the irrigation department to “kindly re-examine” its requirements, and communicate an alternative pumping schedule with maximum utilisation of daytime hours.”

Telling the irrigation department that this “matter may be treated as most urgent,” Transco added that it had been continuously maintaining and operating the sub-stations at lift irrigation schemes at the request of the irrigation department. “However, the accumulation of huge outstanding dues is severely impacting the financial position and operational sustainability of TGTransco,” the letter said.