Hyderabad

Telangana minister KT Rama Rao vows end to Hyderabad drinking water woes with Sunkishala

S Bachan Jeet Singh

HYDERABAD: Assuring that there will be no drinking water problem for Greater Hyderabad even if there is drought for five consecutive years, Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday claimed that once completed, the Sunkishala Intake Well Pumping Station project being taken up near Nagarjunasagar would meet the requirements of the city’s population for years to come.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the Rs 1,450 crore project, Rama Rao said that even if the Nagarjunasagar reservoir reached dead storage level, there will be no shortage of drinking water for the people of Hyderabad.The deadline to complete the project is summer of 2023.

Rama Rao said that Sunkishala project will ensure permanent raw water for the Krishna drinking water supply schemes and also avoid the need for emergency pumping during the summer season.

He said that for future schemes on Krishna such as Phase-IV and V, provisions are being made at the site of the ongoing projects by taking up civil works such as wet well, dry well, intake tunnels, pumping mains and other components.

"This will avoid construction at the low level again. Raw water intake well is being constructed for the present scheme requirements and also to take care of the future scheme requirements from the Krishna river as the source," he said.

No more emergency pumping

The existing Krishna drinking water supply project can supply 270 MGD (Million Gallons per Day / 16.5 tmcft) in three phases of 90 MGD (5.5 tmcft) by drawing raw water from the AMRP canal, which is a temporary arrangement through I&CAD Irrigation Canal.

This arrangement necessitates emergency pumping during every summer and results in interruptions to the existing Krishna water supply schemes to the city. In case the water level in the Nagarjunasagar reservoir falls below the 510 ft mark, it is pumped into the approach channel of the AMRP lift irrigation project.

Smooth flow

  • The water requirement for Hyderabad is presently 37 tmcft

  • It is expected to increase by another 34 tmcft by 2072, taking the total demand to about 70.97 tmcft by 2072

  •  The water requirement will be 47 tmcft by 2035, 58 tmcft by 2050, 67 tmcft by 2065 and 70.97 tmcft by 2072

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