The ongoing surge into the River Krishna has good tidings for the city’s drinking water supply strained under the severe spell of summer and dried up reservoirs.
Officials from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) have heaved a sigh of relief thanks to the influx into Srisailam.
About 94 tmcft of water is expected to be released from Srisailam into the Nagarjuna Sagar in the next couple of days, which, an official says, could see the city through for the next one year. Srisailam, which, till about 10 days ago, had water level only up to 809 feet, is now filled up to 857.6 feet. The quantum of water too has increased to 99 tmc from about 37 tmc 10 days ago.
However, what remains almost unchanged despite normal to excess rainfall in the State is the water level in Singur and Manjeera, as also in Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar reservoirs which had been the historical supply sources for the city.
The city has received seven per cent rainfall in excess of the normal, while the Ranga Reddy district, forming the peripheries of the city, has received 12 per cent in excess.
Notwithstanding the rains, the Osman Sagar reservoir holds 0.069 tmcft only out of 3.9 tmcft capacity, and the water inflow into Himayat Sagar is negligible. This is despite the above-normal rainfall in the catchment area of the reservoirs in Vikarabad mandal of Ranga Reddy district.
Singur Reservoir, on the other hand, has only about 6.5 tmcft of water, out of its 30 tmcft capacity. Manjeera is completely dried up with no inflows whatsoever.
As of now, the city is receiving about 355 MGD (millions of gallons per day) of water from Krishna Phase-I, II & III, and Godavari Phase-I projects. Of this, a total of 270 MGD is received from the projects on Krishna, while 85 MGD is drawn from Yellampally.
Officials admit that sufficient supply from the twin reservoirs would have meant affordable water supply, rather than the costly pumping from the Godavari.
However, the full capacity of the Godavari Phase-I is still not being exploited. Utilisation of the full 172 MGD from the project will require creation and strengthening of the pipeline network in the peripheral municipalities of the GHMC such as Serilingampally, Malkajgiri, and Madhapur, they say.
Disconnected
The HMWSSB has disconnected water supply to about 100 establishments in the city, in reprisal for huge pending bills.
The establishments include a bus depot of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, and a BSNL section office. The bus depot is located at A.S. Rao Nagar, while the BSNL establishment at Attapur, officials informed. Besides, water supply was disconnected to multi-storeyed buildings and hotels across the city and a slaughter house in Chandulal Baradari, they said. The board also launched a drive to disconnect water supply to defaulters, to recover arrears.
