Hyderabad: Depletion of groundwater levels in Winter season itself in Hitec City, Gachibowli and Cyberabad areas has raised apprehensions among residents about water availability during the summer.
Though the overall average groundwater levels in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts have shown an increase, it has gone down in Serilingampally covering Hitec City, Madhapur, Kondapur, Kothaguda and other areas in Cyberabad.
Last year during this time, the groundwater level was at 7.27 metres while this year in Hyderabad it is at 6.94 metres on an average. Like-wise, in Ranga Reddy, the level last year was at 11.46 metres and at present it is at 8.62 metres.
However, in the case of Madhapur, Hitec City and several parts of Cyberabad, the groundwater level has gone down from 3.5 metres last year to 4 metres now. Experts attributed this mainly to over-utilisation of groundwater and also to the failure of the government to encourage construction of rainwater harvesting pits.
Depletion of groundwater levels is more worrying for Cyberabad residents as many gated communities and apartments do not get piped drinking water from the Water Board. Several colonies in Hitec city and Cyberabad areas depend mainly on groundwater for all purposes other than drinking and cooking. The Water Board is yet to lay water distribution lines in many of the colonies in surrounding municipalities including Serilingampally.
N.V. Ratnam Choudary, president of My Home Navadweepa at Hitec City said indiscriminate drilling of bore wells was also one of the main reasons for groundwater depletion in Cyberabad. “Because of premier land values in Hitec City, high-rise buildings are being constructed with no drinking water connections from the Water Board,” he said.
Rohit Shukla, a resident of Madhapur, said that builders constructed cheap rainwater harvesting pits and obtained occupancy certificates from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
“The rainwater harvesting pits stop recharging groundwater in two years. Thereafter it is left to the flat owners or apartment associations to reconstruct the pits. GHMC should conduct periodical checks on whether the pits are functioning,” he said.
Deputy director of the ground water department, Ramesh Kumar, said the water below the ground level in Serilingampally had gone down from 3.5 metres in December, 2012 to 4 metres as on December 31, 2013. “If the levels start depleting from December, it will be difficult to get groundwater in summer.”
