Hyderabad: The city is being supplied water from the dead storage of the Nagarjunasagar reservoir as an emergency measure till the rains arrive. The water level has dropped to 506.9 feet and emergency pumping has started. Ten 300-HP pumpsets have been installed to pump 270 MGD of water to the twin cities. The irrigation department is releasing an average of 1 tmc ft of water to the Krishna Delta. Sources said water can be pumped till the level falls to 497 feet.
The emergency pumping arrangements have been made at Puttamgandi for Krishna waters and at Yellampally for Godavari waters. Water Board director, technical, P.S. Suryanarayana said pumping of Krishna water started on May 21. “The pumps are running for six hours daily, especially during peak flow (morning hours), and will continue till the rains arrive. There is no increase in the withdrawals as 270 MGD is meeting the city's demand," he said.
The water board took about four months to prepare the proposals, getting approvals, tendering, procuring materials, executing works and commissioning the emergency pumping arrangements at a cost of Rs 7 crore, excluding the cost of the pumps and motors. The expenditure was met from the Calamity Relief Fund.
