Hyderabad, July 01: The delayed monsoon has been keeping the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) on tenterhooks since the last few days. The biggest question on the minds of Water Board officials is whether daily water supply to Greater Hyderabad can continue.
The one-month delay in the South-West monsoon has directly affected water levels in the five reservoirs which are important sources of drinking water to the GHMC limits and a few hundred villages belonging to adjoining districts.
The situation is likely to worsen if there isn’t sufficient rainfall in the coming weeks.
The few spells of rain that the Twin Cities have experienced are just not sufficient. Water supply to several localities in the Twin Cities is already quite poor. Many consumers complain that they do not even get 30-45 minutes of drinking water. In some areas, there is only alternate day water supply.
Last year, because of copious rains in the catchment areas, the combined water level in the five reservoirs was about 30 TMC. Presently, it is about 12 TMC only.
The combined storage capacity of these five reservoirs is 39.816 TMC. In Osmansagar (Gandipet) reservoir, as against the storage capacity of 3.900 TMC, the present capacity is about 0.643 TMC. In Himayatsagar reservoir the present level is 0.467 TMC as against the storage capacity of 2.967 TMC. In the Singur reservoir, an important source of drinking water to Hyderabad, the present level is quite grim. About 10.378 TMC of water is available as against the storage capacity of 30.000 TMC. In the Manjira reservoir, the present level is about 0.561 TMC as against the storage capacity of 1.500 TMC. The Irrigation Department also releases Singur water for agricultural purposes in adjoining districts.
The Akkampally (Krishna water) reservoir has about 0.530 TMC of water as against a storage capacity of 1.449 TMC.
Water Board authorities are toying with the idea of alternate day supply till the situation improves.
But with GHMC elections round the corner, the State Government is likely to ask the Water Board to continue daily supply at least up to the corporation elections. The Godavari drinking water scheme for Hyderabad (Moulana Abul Kalam Hyderabad Sujala Sravanthi) for tapping 10 TMC of Godavari water from Pranahita Chevella costing to Rs 3,375 crore is likely to be delayed too due to lack of funds. The State is campaigning to get the project included under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) but it is likely to be a long haul.
–Agencies–