An analysis of the water consumption by coal-fired power plants during the severe drought that has affected more than 12 districts and 11,800 villages this year was released by Greenpeace here.
The analysis showed cases of "wrong prioritising of water resources" for thermal power plants, said Jai Krishna, Campaigner, Greenpeace. He demanded immediate review of water diversions and allocations in the drought-affected areas.
Four state-owned power plants -- Bhusawal in Jalgaon, Parli in Beed, Paras in Akola and one in Nasi -- with total capacity of 3,680 MW were located in the drought-affected areas, he said.
Though the government announced that water stock in all reservoirs in the water-scarce regions will be reserved for drinking water needs, an additional 5,000 million litres of water was provided to Parli plant by the Water Resources Department in December, violating its own decisions, he said.
"Even during a drought, the state seems to deprioritise the drinking water needs of farmers and villagers in the drought-affected regions. Additional water seems to have been given to thermal power plants even during December last year despite being fully aware of the upcoming crisis in summer," he said.