PATIALA:The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) has issued an advisory to its partner states to restrict use of water due to the reduced inflow of water into the Bhakra and Pong reservoirs. BBMB has specified that till July 30, the water level in Pona and Bhakra reservoirs was 15% and 19% respectively, which could lead to crisis in case of over usage of water supplied through the surface network in Punjab,
Haryana,
Rajasthan and Delhi.
The reduced water inflow has also resulted in a loss of Rs 225 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). PSPCL chairman-cummanaging director Baldev Singh Sran, who earlier held the charge of chief engineer (hydel generation), said reduced inflow of water in the reservoirs has adversly affected power generation during the current season.
Following the advisory, Punjab agriculture and farmers welfare department director has written to the deputy directors and chief agriculture officers, about the high alert sounded by the BBMB authorities and asked the partner states to reduce water usage.
The BBMB, on an average, supplies about 34,537.44 28 million acre-foot (MAF) each year to the partner states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi which is sufficient to irrigate 135 lakh acres of land.
Sources said the BBMB had convened a meeting of its special technical committee on July 25, in which partner states had also participated. The meeting was called to highlight the situation and stress on need for corrective measures.
During the last fiscal, PSPCL had saved Rs 300 crore as generation at hydel projects remained satisfactory. This year, the power generation has remained low and the PSPCL is anticipating to lose around Rs 225 crore. Sran said power being supplied from hydel projects was 24% less as compared to last year, which means the state has received 750 million units less power this year.
On Friday, the power demand in the state hovered around 10,000MW to 11,000 MW.
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