HYDERABAD: Hyderabadis need not fear a doomsday scenario with water resources drying up and city folks left without water to quench their thirst, said the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), MD, M Dana Kishore on Wednesday.
Refuting the reports by a section of the media that the city’s water resources might come to an end in a few weeks, he pointed out that the city has an assured water supply of around 442 million gallons per day (mgd), thanks to the rivers Krishna and Godavari which have the capacity of providing 172 mgd and 270 mgd respectively. Presently the city is getting 420 mgd of water supply, 10 mgd higher than last year, of which 26 mgd is from the Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs, he said.
The HMWSSB MD said that they are being forced to use the twin reservoirs due to the drying up of the Singur and Manjeera reservoirs, but this will not be the case once the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) and connecting reservoirs like Mallanasagar are constructed.
He said that the 172 mgd supply of water from Godavari can be assured due to good rains in its catchment areas in Maharashtra, as a result of which the 20 TMC Yellampalli reservoir is already getting good inflows and will able to provide continuous supply of water to the city. Kishore said that once the Mallanasagar reservoir of 50 TMC is completed, it will receive water from KLIS continuously, which in turn will ensure regular water supply to the Kondapochamma reservoir. From here, the water will be available to the two reservoirs to be constructed at Keshavapuram and Develamma Nagaram.
Regarding the Krishna water availability in Nagarjunsagar reservoir, he said that as of now 200 mgd water is being drawn from Krishna river in three phases. In the worst case scenario, with 120 TMC water still available in the Nagarjunasagar reservoir, if required, water can be used till the reservoir goes to the dead storage level.
Meanwhile, the water board has also decided to get in touch with the management of 562 women’s hostel in the city with help from the women and child welfare department for installation of incinerators, so that sanitary pads are not thrown into the sewerage lines.