HYDERABAD: To check wastage of precious water while providing timely water to plants, to avoid traffic jams on the main roads caused by its water tankers and to save manpower, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to water the flower plants through the drip irrigation system, thereby doing away with the usage of water tankers for the purpose. The new method of watering the flower plants through the drip irrigation system is being first implemented on the 11.6-km- long PV Narasimha Rao Elevated Expressway from Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital at Mehdipatnam to the Aramghar junction on the National Highway No 7 (NH-7).
GHMC officials told Express here on Friday that through this novel method, water would be supplied to the plants through the pipelines laid on the central median all along the Expressway. As many as 1,298 cement pots (in square, rectangular and round shapes) are placed on the Expressway. These pots were procured during the CoP-11 summit. They have been relocated on the Expressway after being removed from the various corridors of the Metro Rail Project works. Four Sintex water tanks of 5,000 litres capacity each have been erected and one borewell has been under the PVNR Expressway for water supply to flowerpots though the drip irrigation system. An amount of `64.65 lakh has been spent for the PVNR Expressway beautification works which include the shifting of cement pots, soil mixture in the pots, plant material and drip irrigation system works.
Presently, the GHMC is using water tankers to water the plants on different roads in the twin cities. Apart from the tanker drivers, it employs workers to manually water the plants. These water tankers move slowly on the roads while the workers water the plants. This method has been found to be resulting in traffic jams, wastage of water, diesel and manpower. But with the switch to the drip-irrigation system, all these will be avoided. The new method will be extended to other flyovers in the city where plant pots are placed on central median.