Imran Khan
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City heading for a water crisis too
Sunil Mungara, TNN, Mar 21, 2010, 03.56am IST
INDIA.HYDERABAD: After power cuts, the city is now in the grip of a drinking water shortage. Depletion of the water levels at the three major reservoirs serving the city and frequent power cuts have triggered an unusual crisis even before the onset of summer, water board officials admitted.
According to sources, the water level at the five major sources of supply to the Twin Cities and surrounding GHMC municipalities is lower than the levels recorded at the same time last year. In Osmansagar, the water level is at 1,767 ft as against the full capacity of 1,790 ft. The situation is similar at Himayatsagar, Singur, Manjira and Krishna project, said an official. The Hyderabad Water Board supplies water to about 86 lakh people. Currently, as against the requirement of 400 MGD (million gallons per day), the board is able to supply only 330 MGD, thus leading to a shortfall of 70 MGD. In fact, the bulk of the supply, about 180 MGD, is being met from Phases I and II of the Krishna project.
The water board is flooded with over 400 calls for tanker water from various parts of the city everyday. We expect the situation to worsen by the time the summer peaks in April and May. Apart from providing drinking water through tankers, we are also generating almost 25 MGD of ground water where there is no supply through pipelines, the official said. The water board is closely monitoring the reservoir levels and storage capacity. All steps to ensure continued supply of drinking water will be taken, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board managing director M Jagadeeshwar assured.
But the situation on the ground is much worse than what is being projected by the authorities. In parts of Old City, elected officials including MLAs and corporators are keeping off the constituencies as they are being flooded with requests for drilling of borewells. The situation is even worse in rural areas of the state, said sources.
In the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) area, the board members held an emergency meeting two days ago in view of the acute drinking water shortage in the area. From thrice a week, we are now getting drinking water only twice a week, a resident from Trimulgherry complained.
Water board officials, however, were optimistic that the crisis would be overcome with the onset of the monsoon in June. However, they admitted that a major problem can be at hand if the rains are delayed or are deficient.
City heading for a water crisis too - Hyderabad - City - The Times of India
Sunil Mungara, TNN, Mar 21, 2010, 03.56am IST
INDIA.HYDERABAD: After power cuts, the city is now in the grip of a drinking water shortage. Depletion of the water levels at the three major reservoirs serving the city and frequent power cuts have triggered an unusual crisis even before the onset of summer, water board officials admitted.
According to sources, the water level at the five major sources of supply to the Twin Cities and surrounding GHMC municipalities is lower than the levels recorded at the same time last year. In Osmansagar, the water level is at 1,767 ft as against the full capacity of 1,790 ft. The situation is similar at Himayatsagar, Singur, Manjira and Krishna project, said an official. The Hyderabad Water Board supplies water to about 86 lakh people. Currently, as against the requirement of 400 MGD (million gallons per day), the board is able to supply only 330 MGD, thus leading to a shortfall of 70 MGD. In fact, the bulk of the supply, about 180 MGD, is being met from Phases I and II of the Krishna project.
The water board is flooded with over 400 calls for tanker water from various parts of the city everyday. We expect the situation to worsen by the time the summer peaks in April and May. Apart from providing drinking water through tankers, we are also generating almost 25 MGD of ground water where there is no supply through pipelines, the official said. The water board is closely monitoring the reservoir levels and storage capacity. All steps to ensure continued supply of drinking water will be taken, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board managing director M Jagadeeshwar assured.
But the situation on the ground is much worse than what is being projected by the authorities. In parts of Old City, elected officials including MLAs and corporators are keeping off the constituencies as they are being flooded with requests for drilling of borewells. The situation is even worse in rural areas of the state, said sources.
In the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) area, the board members held an emergency meeting two days ago in view of the acute drinking water shortage in the area. From thrice a week, we are now getting drinking water only twice a week, a resident from Trimulgherry complained.
Water board officials, however, were optimistic that the crisis would be overcome with the onset of the monsoon in June. However, they admitted that a major problem can be at hand if the rains are delayed or are deficient.
City heading for a water crisis too - Hyderabad - City - The Times of India
