Hyderabad: Water woes loom large over the city. In a letter written to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), the state irrigation department has said that it will not be able to maintain the minimum draw down level (MDDL) of 510 feet at the Nagarjunasagar Dam in the Krishna river basin.
At present, the water level is 522.6 feet. The department has asked the Board to prepare to carry out emergency pumping from the end of March. Even though the Water Board already has emergency pumps, the installation of a pumping station will cost '5 crore.
The Water Board is currently supplying 387 million gallons a day (MGD) from Phases I, II and III of the Krishna Drinking Water Supply Project, and Phase I of the Godavari Project. A total of 226 MGD is supplied from projects on the Krishna. If the pumping of water from the Krishna basin is delayed, about two-thirds of the city will face a severe water crisis.
The irrigation department has also informed the Water Board that the reliability of Nagarjunasagar reservoir as a source of water is diminishing at an alarming pace.
According to highly-placed sources in the corporation, the irrigation department has alerted the Water Board regarding the situation and asked it to prepare to carry out emergency pumping from the Krishna basin. However, the Water Board has turned a blind eye to the warning and is yet to prepare a draft budget for the installation of a pumping station to draw water.
Source say that the Board has to prepare a budget and send it to the state government for approval before inviting tenders. The entire process will take at least four weeks.
A senior official from the Board told this paper that the Board was supplying 226 MGD of water from Akkampally Project on the Krishna and the Sripada Yellampally project on the Godavari. He said that even though the irrigation department had asked for the Board to make arrangements for emergency pumping from the end of March, the three-member committee of the Krishna River Management Board had asked for the water level at the Sagar to be maintained at 520 TMC until March 20 and 515 TMC until the end of the month.
He said that city would not have a water problem in March, but it would definitely face a crisis in April, for which the Water Board was prepared.
The official said that it would take at least two weeks to complete the bidding process after receiving the government’s approval. He said that the HMWSSB would have to spend Rs 6 crore on arrangements to pump water, and an additional Rs 1 crore in the form of electricity charges.
Additional 25 MGD water to be supplied per day
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) have been finalising plans to ensure that there is no water scarcity in the upcoming summer months.
The Water Board will supply additional 25 million gallons a day (MGD) water from Godavari basin. The Water Board has been supplying 56.00 MGD against the drawing capacity of 86.00 MGD from SripadaYellampally (Godavari) already. The Water Board has decided to add another 25 MGD of water from Godavari during emergency.
Water Board managing director Mr M. Dana Kishore stated that adequate water was available and that temporary measures were being taken to ensure that there were no supply problems during the summer.
Mr Dana Kishore said 400 MGD of water was being supplied daily in the city. The Board was ready to make available an additional 25 MGD, he said.
Special personnel were being appointed to oversee the implementation of the summer plan of action for water supply.
The HMWS&SB MD has directed officials to complete the work by month-end in localities that were not being served by tankers to ensure that there was tap supply of water. He said by providing tap water in localities not covered by tanker supply the board's burden would be lessened. Mr. Dana Kishore also announced that shortly super sucker machines would be put to use, with special focus on sewage clearance. This would ensure that there will not be any contamination of the water either.
