Hyderabad: For the first time, officials of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Board on Wednesday started pumping the Nagarjunasagar dam dead storage waters for the Hyderabad drinking water project using emergency motors.
About 500 cusecs of dead storage water is being pumped to Puttamgandi main canal; from there to Akkampalli balancing reservoir, the main source of the Krishna drinking water supply project.
Though emergency pumping system was set up last year itself at the dam, it was not put to use as water reaches the dam from upstream Srisailam.
However, this year the water level at the NS dam (as on Wednesday) touched 504.2 ft which is already six feet lower than the minimum draw down level of 510 ft, against the full reservoir level of 590 ft. Of the 10 emergency high-end submersible pumps installed, five were put to use on Wednesday.
Officials told this newspaper that if the need arises, they will use the remaining five pumps to meet the city drinking water needs.
They estimate that if needed, they can pump water till the levels reach 490 ft, through dredging of the Left Main Canal approach channel that reaches Puttamgandi.
However, as per the Krishna River Management Board’s decision, more dead storage water from Srisailam dam is expected to reach downstream Nagarjunasagar dam.
Sources said with emergency pumping, officials can ensure Hyderabad gets its normal supply of drinking water for another three months.
