The Hindu : Thermal power from regenerated water

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 30, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Thermal power from regenerated water

By Our Correspondent

BELLARY DEC. 29. Over 1.35 lakh hectares of fields are irrigated by the Left Bank Canal of the Tungabhadra, which lies between the 17th and 25th distributaries. The wastewater drains out of the fields into a stream called `Maralihall', and the regenerated water flows again into the Tungabhadra river, between Danapur and Balagodra villages.

It is this confluence of the wastewater and the stream that drew the attention of a team of enginners of the Rs. 2,600 crore Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS) project of the KPCL, who were looking for a non-controversial source of water for generating steam in the boilers of the plant.

After scrutinising the records of the water flow in the Maralihalla near a causeway before it joins the river, the team. led by the Chief Engineer, B.N. Vishwanath, established that 8 tmcft. of water flowed through it before joining the river.

The hydrological data enabled them to draw up a bold blueprint to construct a weir (small dam) across the Maralihalla, 100 yards downstream from the causeway, and draw the water using a jackwell and pump. There will be a pipeline across the Tungabhadra from the left to the right bank. The pipeline, which will pass near Balagodra village, will be laid along the road up to Kampli (5 km. from the proposed weir). It will avoid Kampli town, take a detour towards Kottala, and join the main road after covering a distance of 4 km. From there, the pipeline will be laid by the roadside up to the Bellary thermal plant site.

The innovative water supply alignment, drawing regenerated water from a stream with the help of a weir from a distance of 36 km., is unique, according to the Managing Director of the KPCL, Jyotiramalingam.

The BTPS will require 1 tmcft. of water for producing steam in its boilers for running turbines.

The regenerated water contains pesticides etc., as it flows from the fields irrigated by the Tungabhadra left bank canal, Mr. Vishwanath says.

He says that the team of engineers constructed a temporary bridge of wooden poles to cross the Tungabhadra at the point of confluence.

The plan envisages laying an M.S. pipe to cross the river from the left to the right bank.

The Superintending Engineer, Bendre, says that the pipeline is to be laid along the road through Kampli, Metri, and Daroji, and electricity poles have to be moved back to dig the trench for the pipeline. The pipeline will have to be laid across canal distributaries and a railway line.

At one stretch, it will run along the wall of the Kampli Sugar Factory, and permission will be obtained from the factory authorities, he adds. The work is scheduled to begin after the bids from the contractors are considered in January 2003. Mr. Vishwanath says that all the schemes, including the arrangement for water supply, will be completed simultaneously.

What is interesting about the scheme to supply water for the BTPS is that it causes no problem to farmers who have been objecting to drawing water directly from the Tungabhadra canal for industries such as the JVSL.

Mr. Jyotiramalingam is keen on "integrating" the power plant with the local scenario.

He does not want quarters to be constructed for the personnel, as they can stay in Bellary and reach the site by buses provided by the BTPS. The public should feel that the plant is part of their lives and not an "alien invasion", he says.

Virupaksha Goud, a youth from Belagodra village near the weir site, welcomes the plan to use regenerated water. He asks why the Government should not use the remaining 7 tmcft. of water flowing into the Tungabhadra for recycling and reuse.

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