Mahaweli Authority agrees to release water until Feb. 17

• The decision was taken considering the possibility of rain following the low-pressure area formed over the southeast Bay of Bengal

 By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama   

The Water Management Secretariat of the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka has agreed to release  an adequate volume of water from the reservoirs to generate sufficient hydropower until February 17, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) said yesterday.

A letter in this regard was sent to the CEB Chairman Janaka Rathnayake yesterday saying the PUCSL requested that the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka allow the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to release at least 2 GWh per day and to release water until February 17 for power generation.

He said the commission’s decision was announced according to the decisions taken at the meeting held on January 25 at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL).   

The PUCSL is in the process of determining the electricity tariff based on the tariff proposal dated January 5 requesting a revision of the electricity tariff, and the consultation event, which is one of the steps in the tariff determining process, will be held on February 8.   

As agreed at the meeting held at HRCSL. if any additional cost will be required to be incurred to provide an uninterrupted power supply until February 17, that cost will be recovered through the above tariff determination.   
Meanwhile, the Water Management Secretariat said water capacity from the Kotmale and Randenigala Reservoirs had been released.

According to the Mahaweli Authority, three million cubic meters (mmc) of water was released from the Kotmale Reservoir. Earlier, it was released at 1.5 mmc per day. 12.78 mmc was released from the Randenigala Reservoir yesterday and today. 7.9 mmc of water was released from the Randenigala Reservoir earlier.
The Water Management Secretariat said the decision was taken considering the possibility of rain following the low-pressure area formed over the southeast Bay of Bengal.