HYDERABAD: The Sunkishala intake well project, a significant component of the Krishna Drinking Water Supply Project (KDWSP), is underway to address the long-term drinking water requirements of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Hyderabad Urban Agglomeration (HUA) areas until 2050. Civil works are progressing rapidly, and the project, estimated to cost Rs 2,215 crore, is expected to be fully completed by March 2024, ensuring a continuous water supply to Hyderabad.
The intake tunnel project, situated near Nagarjuna Sagar in Nalgonda district, has become crucial in ensuring sufficient drinking water, even during periods of inadequate monsoon for up to five years in Hyderabad and its surrounding areas. The government initiated the Sunkishala intake project due to the lack of permanent and independent arrangements for the existing KDWSP schemes of Phase-I, II, and III, which draw 270 million gallons of water per day (MGD) for Hyderabad. Once the project is completed, the reliance on emergency pump motors to extract water from dead storage levels will be eliminated.
Presently, water is sourced for the city from the Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project (AMRP) irrigation canal, which utilises water from the Krishna river via the Nagarjunasagar project. However, during summer when the water level at the Nagarjunasagar project falls below the minimum drawdown level (MDDL) of 510 feet, the canal system cannot deliver water to the city. This necessitates the installation of emergency pumping systems to extract water below the MDDL.
The Sunkishala intake project will allow water to be drawn below the MDDL, up to 450 feet, where approximately 70 to 80 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water is available for drinking water purposes.
‘60% of works completed’
Regarding the project components, sources indicate that 50 to 60 per cent of the work has been completed. This includes the intake well and pumping station at Sunkishala, transmission mains consisting of three rows of 2,375-mm-diameter MS pipelines from Sunkishala to Kodandapur in Nalgonda, as well as electro-mechanical, substation and instrumentation works.
Excavation for the pump house, intake shaft, and PCC has been completed, and the concrete works for the floor raft slab is currently in progress. The first intake tunnel at level +547 feet has been finished, and the second intake tunnel at +504 feet has also been completed. The construction of the third intake tunnel at +450 feet is progressing swiftly and is expected to be completed early next year.
Pipelines in place by 2023-end
For the transmission mains from Sunkishala to the clear water treatment plant in Kodandapur (18 km), the procurement of MS plates is underway, and the fabrication of MS pipes is in progress. Approximately 20 km of the total 51 MS plates have been fabricated, and about 15.40 km of pipelines have been laid, with the remaining work expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Under the electro-mechanical, substation, and instrumentation works, two dedicated 132 KV power transmission feeders are being developed. Detailed designs for pumps, motors, transformers, and substations have been finalised, and the works are expected to be completed by October of this year.
To supply water to surrounding areas too
The intake tunnel project, situated in Nalgonda district, has become crucial in ensuring sufficient drinking water, even during periods of inadequate monsoon for up to five years in Hyderabad and its surrounding areas