Mangaluru : The Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd., (MRPL) on Thursday began the process of shutting down its Phase III operations thereby curtailing production of diesel and petrol by about 50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively due to water to drying up of Netravathi river.

If it does not rain in a day or two, MRPL would have to completely shut down its production, just as it did in 2012, thereby completely affecting supply of diesel and petrol in major parts of Karnataka. “We are trying to postpone the complete shutdown by all using possible means and at the present situation, it cannot go beyond a week,” said M. Venkatesh, Director (Refineries), MRPL.

He told The Hindu that shutting down of Phase III has already commenced thereby curtailing diesel production by about 12,000 kilo litres a day and petrol by about 1,000 kilo litres a day. LPG production too has come down from 2,500 tonnes to 800 tonnes, he said.

As Dakshina Kannada’s lifeline Netravathi has dried up, the district administration had asked MRPL to lift water from its wire alternate days in April first week and on April 26, the administration ordered complete curtailment of water supply to all industries, including MRPL, Mangalore Special Economic Zone etc. MRPL has been running the show with about three million gallon per day (MGD) recycled water that is coming from Kavoor sewage treatment plant and other local sources all these days.

Mr. Venkatesh said the production cannot be continued in such a condition.

He said the company is exploring many options to keep the refinery alive for maximum possible period in the given circumstances. Asked whether MRPL would draw water stored in the crude oil cavern of Indian Strategic Petro Reserves Ltd., near Permude, off Mangaluru, Mr. Venkatesh said that is also being discussed. About 20 million gallons of water is said to be available in the cavern that was stored for testing purposes.

MRPL is also exploring options like sourcing partially refined crude from other refineries and produce the final product matching to the local standards.

MRPL caters to about 80 per cent of fuel requirement of Karnataka. The refinery is shutting down its Phase III unit from today owing to severe water crisis. Diesel production comes down by 50 per cent and petrol 30 per cent. If it does not rain in a couple of days, MRPL has to fully shut down operations