• Total of 65,000 ha of paddy lands facing risk of complete destruction
• Paddy worth nearly Rs. 18 b to be lost if water supply fails
• Banana, green gram, cowpea crops also at risk, massive losses likely
• Power crisis risk as water released from Samanalawewa hydro complex

The annual monsoon rains have failed to reach the Uva and Sabaragamuwa Provinces in strength once again ahead of the Yala season, leaving thousands of farmers and the nation facing uncertainty over the upcoming harvest period. 

Over the last month, paddy farmers alleged that their farmlands were drying up due to the lack of adequate water given the prevailing severe dry weather conditions experienced in the area. 

The pre-harvest weather crisis, one that has been witnessed many times over in the last few decades, returns the spotlight amidst Sri Lanka’s weak climate resilience framework, which in turn affects the nation’s food security.

As per the statistics of the Agriculture Ministry, a total of 65,000 hectares of paddy lands are facing a risk of complete destruction unless the weather gods show mercy and in the event the Government fails to provide an adequate water supply. 

Calculations done by the ministry have shown that the country will lose nearly Rs. 18 billion worth of paddy directly if it fails to provide a continuous water supply until harvesting commences towards the end of this month. 

In addition to paddy, other crops such as banana, green gram, and cowpea are also facing the risk of destruction, with losses likely to run into billions of rupees, according to Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera. 

Due to the prevailing dry weather conditions, the water level in the Udawalawe Reservoir which provides water for farming in Embilipitiya, Monaragala, and Ratnapura has dropped drastically, resulting in a move to try and fill up the reservoir with water released by the Samanalawewa hydro power reservoir. 

As per the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) generation statistics available as at 14 July, the night-time peak generation of Samanalawewa hydro complex is 196.3 MW and the water level of Samanalawewa Reservoir below spill is 20.34 m, whereas the spill at the reservoir is 31 m. 

The storage in Samanalawewa is 32.1 GWh and it is 24.1% of the total capacity, according to statistics. Further, the Samanalawewa hydro power reservoir catchment area has not received any significant rains over the past few months.

The CEB has released water at a speed of 2.5 cubic million metres per day. However, it has controlled the release of water by bringing down the speed to 0.5 cubic million metres per day to save more water in order to supply electricity to the Southern Province during peak time and avoid a possible power cut due to the draining of Samanalawewa. 

It is learnt that the depletion of more hydro capacity poses a threat to the continuous supply of electricity to the Southern Province due to the unavailability of optional power plants in the area. The only available power plants are the CEB-owned diesel-powered generators of 50 MW.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning on the importance of prioritising agriculture over a three-hour power shortage, Minister Amaraweera said if the crops were damaged, the Government would have to spend billions of rupees to pay compensation to farmers and would lose Rs. 17 billion worth of paddy harvest, raising concerns over the sufficiency of rice production as well. As per the ministry, the overall damage to crops is predicted to be around Rs. 30 billion.   

In such a backdrop, the CEB – which is under pressure to supply continuous electricity to the Southern Province as well as release water for cultivation under the Udawalawe Reservoir – is still uncertain as to what it should prioritise. 

As of Thursday (3), the energy storage at Samanalawewa was 18 GWh – sufficient only for a few days in the event water is released at 2.5 cubic million metres. 

Brace for loss

The Sunday Morning learns that thousands of farmers are facing a risk of losing their crops in the Yala season if the Government fails to provide adequate volumes of water. 

“We have been battered by not just one disaster but by many, including the current water shortage. I have pawned my wife’s jewellery to commence cultivation. This time it was not easy to commence cultivation as prices of almost everything have gone up. We are asking for water, nothing else,” S.H. Somapala, a 47-year-old farmer from Embilipitiya told The Sunday Morning. 

“Letting our hard work dry up is like letting ourselves burn down,” he lamented. 

Another angry farmer from Sevanagala, G. Karunadasa, stressed that all that the authorities had to do was manage the resources and prepare for disasters like these. “It seems like they have failed as usual and we are paying for their failures,” he added.

Southern power crisis

Year upon year for almost two decades now, the southern region of the country has faced an extreme shortage of power during the dry season, which has led to the yearly purchase of emergency power.

Nevertheless, this year, the CEB did not sign any energy purchasing agreements with Private Power Plants (PPP) for the Southern Province, hopeful of managing with the existing resources. 

Sri Lanka’s procurement of emergency power from PPPs has been marred in controversy for many years, with questions raised about incidents of corruption and bribery which have even been linked to senior ministers of previous governments. 

Today’s predicament has raised questions about whether the painful lessons in energy security and food security over the last three years have not had any impact on policymakers and Government officials, as there seem to be no contingency plans or attempts to mitigate the issue.

Farmers are now on the brink of losing crops while the country is bracing for a loss of nearly Rs. 30 billion due to the failure on the part of the CEB to find a solution to the southern power crisis. 

If there was an option for managing the power crisis without depending solely on Samanalawewa during peak hours, along with an appropriate transmission line to provide electricity from the central hills to the deep south, the farmers would not face an extreme shortage of water during this dry season. Long delays in improving transmission line networks in the south have also complicated matters. 

As learnt by The Sunday Morning, the southern region of the country faces the risk of losing nearly 120 MW of power supply early next month with the rapid depletion of water levels at the Samanalawewa hydro power reservoir. 

The transmission of electricity from the central hills to the south has several constraints due to the issue of transmission lines. To solve the issue, a new 220 kV line has been proposed from Polpitiya to Hambantota and another 220 kV line from Kotmale to Polpitiya.  

A total of around 80% of the construction of the transmission line from Polpitiya to Hambantota had already been completed, but the rest had been delayed for years due to an unforeseeable reason termed as being ‘out of the CEB’s control’. As things stand, only the foundation has been laid for the construction of the new 220 kV line from Kotmale to Polpitiya, it is learnt. 

The Sunday Morning reliably learns that in the event the rains fail to return to Samanalawewa, the CEB may not have an option but to purchase supplementary power at a higher cost from private power suppliers – once again repeating the cycle of emergency purchases seen in the past. 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, a senior official at the CEB who wished to remain anonymous said that the total cost for the completion of the construction of the 220 kV line would be around Rs. 1.2 billion and the amount would be an investment in critical energy infrastructure as it would solve the energy shortage in the Southern Province. 

According to the source, the construction of the line had been commenced four years ago and had been delayed due to Covid-19 in 2020 and later due to the economic crisis.

As per the ‘Initial Environmental Examination: Transmission Subprojects on Clean Energy and Network Efficiency Improvement Project’ prepared by the CEB for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the development of the new Polpitiya GSS will facilitate the extension of the 220 kV transmission system to the Southern Province at a future date, which will resolve most of the under-voltage and line overloading problems in the southern transmission network. 

The ‘Long-Term Transmission Development Plan 2013-2022’ has identified that the 220 kV transmission connection to Hambantota from Polpitiya – which will operate as a transmission highway to flow hydro power generated at Mahaweli and Laxapana complexes to the southern load centre – will facilitate a reliable power supply to the Southern Province. 

When contacted by The Sunday Morning, CEB Chairman Nalinda Ilangakoon declined to comment on the matter, saying that the decisions in this regard would have to be made by the Cabinet and the line ministry and that the CEB would abide by their decisions.