Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera stated in Parliament yesterday (8) that by releasing water from Samanalawewa Reservoir for other activities besides electricity generation, the electricity produced from it will be completely stopped by August 16 and as an alternative, an emergency purchase of electricity will be made.
The Minister also said that if electricity is not purchased urgently, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Ratnapura districts will have a full or partial power cut of three hours and the power cut should be done for two hours in the afternoon and two hours at night.
The Minister also said that the necessary procurement activities to purchase electricity and prepare the wiring system from Polpitiya to Hambantota have been done.
The Minister stated that the Polpitiya Hambantota cable system has been a problem for 5 years and its work has been disrupted for the last three years due to Covid and the economic crisis.
The minister said that there was a delay in providing the loan given by the Asian Development Bank to make this project a success and there are 150 kilometers related to this project and compensation has been paid to 2500 families.
The Minister said that the Asian Development Bank has agreed to hold a discussion with the Public Utilities Commission in this regard and the discussion will be held on the 11th and if the discussion is successful, the emergency purchase of electricity can be reduced.
The minister said that the cabinet took a decision to release water from Samanala Lake Reservoir for agricultural activities in Walawa region and that the water of Samanala Lake Reservoir is collected only for electricity generation activities and there is no agreement or agreement to release water from this for agricultural or irrigation activities.
The Minister also said that the Ministry made preliminary awareness on June 30 that water is needed from Samanala Lake for irrigation purposes and the Electricity Board and Water Management Committee met and decided to release water from June 30.
MCM to Irrigation Department on 13th July. 2 are working to release water and it was predicted that there would be rain on the 15th but it did not happen, and accordingly on July 17th M.C.M. 9th decimal, 18th to 24th M.C.M. The Minister also said that steps were taken to release water from 1.4
The Minister said that on July 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, water was released at the rate of 4 tithes and according to this agreement, this release will be done.
He said that until June 30, there was no request from the irrigation department to release water in this way, and when they suddenly made a request, when they released water, problems would arise in the generation of electricity.
The Minister said that with the current weather conditions, it is not possible to produce even 3750 gigawatts of electricity and that electricity is currently being provided with fuel oil or diesel.
The minister said that the request for water should not be made a week before the arrival of the Ministry of Irrigation and requests should be made in advance and by doing so, one can avoid sudden purchases.
Irrigation Minister Roshan Ranasinghe said in reply that Walawa has no other option but to take water from Samanala Lake and if water cannot be taken from Samanala Lake for irrigation purposes then the Kalu Ganga or Gin projects should be expedited.
Minister Ranasinghe said that the Irrigation Department had requested this water on June 30 and he informed the Cabinet about this on July 17.