Hyderabad: TS irrigation minister T. Harish Rao on Sunday assured Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly K. Jana Reddy that the government will soon construct a separate pond for lifting water from the Nagarjunasagar to supply it to Hyderabad for the city’s drinking water needs.
Mr Jana Reddy had brought to the notice of the government that without de-linking Puttamgandi and Akkampalli balancing reservoirs with the Hyderabad city water supply, it wouldn’t be possible to cater to both irrigation and drinking water needs of Nalgonda district.
He suggested that it would be better for the government to construct Sunkisala pond exclusively for the purpose of Hyderabad’s drinking water needs.
As per the present arrangement, 30 tmc ft of water from Nagarjunasagar will be diverted to Puttamgandi from where it will be lifted to Akkampalli reservoir. From Akkampalli, it will be used for the drinking water needs of Hyderabad as well as irrigation and drinking needs of Nalgonda district through Srisailam Left bank canal (Alimineti Madhava Reddy lift scheme).
The original plan was entire 30 tmc ft of water should be used exclusively for the needs of Nalgonda district. However, due to increase in demand for the Hyderabad Metro Water supply scheme, 16.5 tmc ft of water was allotted exclusively but it’s being linked to the existing Puttamgandi-Akkampalli reservoirs.
This has resulted in a major portion of the 30 tmc ft of water going to Hyderabad. A scheme was proposed few years ago to de-link the system and provide a direct link from Nagarjunasagar to Sunkisala pond from where the entire drinking water needs of Hyderabad could be met. Since this is a drinking water scheme, getting permissions from the agencies would be easier.
Another bottleneck for the city drinking water scheme is that water from Nagarjunasagar cannot be lifted to Puttamgandi if the dam levels fall below 507 ft. In case Sunkisala is constructed, water could be lifted even at the level of 480 ft.
Revealing this, Mr Jana Reddy wanted the government to, instead of creating more problems for the people of Nalgonda district who are affected with fluoride, to go for the alternative of constructing Sunkisala for Hyderabad’s drinking needs at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore. Replying to this, Mr Harish Rao assured him that the government has already on the job of de-linking the system.
