Nellore: People living in the densely populated old city area of Nellore City have been worried about water scarcity and the polluted drinking water being supplied through pipelines. Authorities have begun releasing 200 cusecs of water on daily basis from Somasila project to overcome the scarcity but the water reaching Nellore is mostly lost to seepage in to the bed of totally dried up Pennar River.
Explaining the reasons behind polluted water, officials maintain that it had nothing to do with drainage but it is the stagnated water in the pipelines. To overcome the problem, field staff has been instructed to open the scour valves located at low points or between valved sections of the pipelines once in two days that would help flush out the lines and remove sediment.
An official admitted that seepage was also partly because of damage to the old water and drainage pipelines running side-by-side in some parts. All these issues will end once the ongoing drinking water development scheme is completed, he added. Reminding that Nellore is one of the few towns in the state that did not face water scarcity, a municipal engineer said they used to supply water two times a day that has now been reduced to once for two hours because of shortage.
Mayor S.K. Abdul Aziz said the water level in the reservoirs located in Pennar river bed dropped from 18 feet to 8 feet. Referring to requirement of 82 MLD (million litres per day), he said the quantity has been brought down to 62 MLD to manage with the available water sources. According to Mr Aziz, they have appealed to authorities to release 500 cusecs from Somasila to overcome the seepage issues in Penna river and supply water to the city.
The 200 cusecs being released since July 21, had not reached Sangam anicut, 50 km from Somasila, till Thursday. Referring to dried up river bed eating away lion share of water, he justified the ongoing scheme to draw water from Sangam anicut through pipeline. He said 40 cusecs is enough to address the drinking water needs of Nellore at the rate of 135 litres per head. He added that the situation would improve within a week.
