Mekedatu water project threatens the historic Shimsha mini-hydel project

SHIMSHA: The Mekedatu balancing reservoir and the drinking water project has become a threat to the very existence of the 80-year-old historic Shimsha mini-hydel project which has tucked away in a picturesque of the Cauvery valley.

According to the preliminary assessment which was given by the water resources ministry, about the power station that had been built by the Mysore Maharajas in 1939 will be submerged in the backwaters of the Mekedatu reservoir and the deliberations are on whether to shut the station or to relocate it at a safer place.

On Friday DK Shivakumar, the Water resources minister, had visited the station asked the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) to check if there is a possibility to shift the station to a higher elevation. “It's early to say if the reservoir will be submerged but we can protect it by lifting it to a higher elevation,” he added.

However, the KPTCL officials said, they were not in favour regarding the relocating of the station as they think it’s too old to relocate and is not economically viable. “Since it is a very low capacity hydel power station and its machinery is old, it doesn't make business sense to relocate it. If at all we need to relocate it, it will be for heritage value and the emotional attachment people of the region have with it,” said a KPTCL engineer at the station.

The station is comprised of two units with a total capacity of 8.6MW each and it’s the second oldest hydel power project belonging to the state after the Shivanasamudra.