Water crisis seems to looming large on the horizon of the temple town of Tirupati with Municipal Corporation of Tirupatiofficials beginning to supply water on alternate days since a month.
Officials resorting to such measures even before the onset of summer is worrying people dependent on municipal water supply.
While some areas like MR Palle, Rajiv Nagar, Bairagipatteda, PK layout etc are already reeling due to lack of adequate water supply as well as drying of borewells, people from other areas are being forced fill water supplied at 3 am.
Of the 650 borewells maintained by the MCT, around 250 of them have already dried up. MCT officials say that against a demand for 75 million lite a day (MLD) of water a day, they were able to supply 35 MLD.
But the corporation maintains that there was no water scarcity in the town. They claim to be able to supply up to 110 litres as against the demand for 135 litres. Speaking to Express, MCT water supply department divisional engineer D Ravikumar said there is adequate water in Kailasagiri summer storage project. “We can pump only 35 MLD water a day as the filter house situated near Mangalam has a maximum capacity of 35 MLD,” he said.
But residents paint a different picture. Dwellers of MR Palle locality said they don’t believe officials’ assurances. “Last year too, they said they would solve all water water problems by 2013, but now they seem to be hinting at postponing to next year,” said A Raghuram, a resident of MR Palle.