Mandya: The prolonged rainfall deficit across the Cauvery River basin has not only impacted agriculture and drinking water availability but has now brought electricity generation at the historic Shivanasamudra Hydroelectric Power Station to a halt. Widely regarded as Asia’s first hydroelectric power station, the century-old facility has remained nonoperational for nearly six weeks due to an acute shortage of water in the Cauvery River.Located in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district, the station is witnessing one of its rarest shutdowns during the Southwest Monsoon season. Officials said such a prolonged suspension of power generation has not occurred in the past five years, underlining the severity of the current water crisis. Electricity generation is expected to resume only after adequate releases from the KRS or Kabini reservoirs restore sufficient flow in the river.The deficient Southwest Monsoon has drastically reduced inflows into the Cauvery catchment, leaving river discharge far below the level required to operate the station’s turbines. The shutdown highlights the cascading effects of poor rainfall, extending beyond agriculture and irrigation into Karnataka’s renewable energy sector.Speaking to TOI, Anitha M, executive engineer, KPCL, Shivanasamudra, said the station normally operates at its full installed capacity of 42 MW, generating nearly 1 million units of electricity a day between July and Nov, provided the river carries at least 1,450 cusecs of water. Power generation typically drops to around 25 MW from Dec to Feb and further declines to 10-15 MW between March and June as water availability reduces.“However, this year, due to the acute shortage of water in the Cauvery River, power generation has remained completely suspended,” she said.The electricity generated at the station is transmitted to the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd ( KPTCL) grid and distributed to ESCOMs in coordination with the State Load Dispatch Centre.Hydroelectric projects depend entirely on sustained river flows, making them particularly vulnerable during years of deficient rainfall. The shutdown of the Shivanasamudra plant — an iconic landmark in India’s power generation history — underscores the growing challenges posed by an increasingly erratic monsoon. With inflows into major reservoirs such as KRS and Kabini remaining significantly below normal, concerns are mounting over water resource management, irrigation, drinking water supply and power generation if rainfall conditions do not improve in the coming weeks.
