Officials Seek 16 TMC Storage in Singur To Secure Hyderabad’s Water Needs

Hyderabad: At least 16 tmc ft of water should be maintained in the Singur reservoir to ensure that Hyderabad faced no drinking water shortage next summer, officials said during a high-level review on water availability and future demand.

The recommendation emerged at a meeting chaired by special chief secretary Jayesh Ranjan, who reviewed storage levels in major reservoirs, monsoon inflows and drinking water requirements for Hyderabad and other urban areas. Senior officials from the irrigation department, Mission Bhagiratha, HMWS&SB and HYDRAA attended.

HMWS&SB managing director Ashok Reddy said Hyderabad could continue to receive drinking water from Krishna, Osmansagar and Himayatsagar until the end of June 2027.

Water in the Manjira and Singur reservoirs, as well as supplies from Godavari sources, was projected to meet requirements only until September 30. Officials noted that maintaining adequate storage in Singur would be critical to ensuring water security through the following summer.

Mission Bhagiratha engineer-in-chief K. Kripakar Reddy said water availability in the Singur catchment area was sufficient for only about 45 more days under present conditions.

To strengthen supplies, officials decided to complete about four kilometres of pending pipeline work for additional Godavari water to Mission Bhagiratha within 40 days. The project, estimated to cost around Rs 3 crore, is expected to bring an additional 40 million gallons per day (MGD) of water once completed.

Officials also directed departments dependent on Singur waters to prepare contingency plans to prevent shortages. Jayesh Ranjan instructed authorities to improve groundwater recharge by creating rainwater harvesting structures near borewells and asked agencies to prepare emergency plans for diverting water from alternative sources if required.