Bhakra, Beas Management Board, or BBMB, has been constituted under Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, to manage the Bhakra & Beas projects and to regulate the release of water of the rivers Satluj, Ravi & Beas. The organisation supplies about 14,000 million units of electricity a year to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh. It also provides water for irrigation and drinking to the region. The organisation now operates six hydro power houses having an installed capacity of 2865 MW. In an interview with Subhash Narayan of FE, BBMB chairman AB Agrawal talks about the organisation?s new initiatives. Excerpts:
How do you differentiate BBMB projects vis-?-vis from the hydro power projects being developed upstream of Satluj?
As you are aware, a number of hydro electric projects upstream of Bhakra are already developed and some are still under development. These are Kol Dam, Nathpa Jhakri, Rampur, Karcham Wangtoo, etc. But they represent a fundamentally different conceptual and operational paradigm. They are only power generation installations whereas power generation is only one of the functions of BBMB projects. Our Bhakra Dam & Pong Dam are massive structures behind which huge water reservoirs, viz., Gobind Sagar (9620 million CuM) and Rana Pratap Sagar (9570 mMillion CuM) have been created.
The major function of BBMB is to regulate the supply of these waters for the drinking and irrigation needs of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi. Besides, BBMB projects have a dedicated power evacuation system through 3,705 Ckt Km transmission lines up to 400 kV rating and 24 sub-stations.
What is BBMB?s contribution to the National Water Mission?
Our country has only 4% of global water supply to cater for a disproportionate 18% of the global population. Moreover, our country is able to use only 30% of the available water against 70% effective usage in the developed countries. Thus, in reality, per capita water availability is much less in India. The main goals of the National Water Mission are to ensure the compilation of a comprehensive water database and conservation of basin level integrated water resources. With its well-synchronised operation of reservoirs and water conductor system, BBMB ensures maximum utilisation of water for drinking, irrigation, power generation, fishing, etc. Further, BBMB is entering into data-sharing MoUs with Indian Meteorological Department and other such agencies, including upstream hydro power project developers, and is also implementing World Bank-funded Hydrology Project to promote basin level integrated water resource management and real time decision support system for efficient reservoir operations.
Would BBMB be affected by the water cess proposed to be levied by some states?
In fact, water flowing through the BBMB system runs through the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, which are beneficiary states from BBMB projects. Therefore, I do not foresee BBMB being affected by any water cess.
Does BBMB envisage any addition in its power generation capacity?
BBMB does not have the mandate for fresh capacity addition as per its constituting Act. Nevertheless, we have strived to add generation capacity through brownfield route by undertaking renovation, modernisation & uprating (RM&U) of BBMB power houses. In fact, our RM&U programme is the most ambitious initiative taken in the country in the hydro-power sector. Without any incremental issues of resettlement & rehabilitation, we have already enhanced the capacity of Bhakra (Left & Right) power houses from 1050 MW to 1325 MW and that of Pong Power House from 360 MW to 396 MW.
Further, the second major RM&U of 540 MW Bhakra Left Bank Power House is currently under progress and shall add 90 MW of low-cost green power by end-2012. Capacity accretions through RM&U shall facilitate higher availability of peaking power.
Would BBMB claim carbon credits for capacity addition through RM&U?
RM&U project for Bhakra Left Bank Power House is the first such in the country to be considered for trading carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. BBMB has entered into an agreement with the World Bank for the sale of 2,40,000 CERs (certified emission reduction credits). Registration for the sale of CERs is awaited from the UNFCCC. A similar agreement for the sale of 5,65,000 CERs starting from 31.12.2013 till 2017 has also been signed with the World Bank.
