Hyderabad has enough water this summer: Officials

HYDERABAD: Officials of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) said there would not be any need for emergency pumping to draw waters from the minimum draw down levels (MDDL) of the reservoirs in Krishna river basin this summer due to adequate water storage.

The supply situation is improved due to the rise in groundwater levels thanks to excess rainfall recorded in the city in 2021-22. According to the ground water department, various parts of the city witnessed a rise in water levels by 0.5 metre to greater than 2 metres during March this year when compared with the decadal average levels of the same month between 2012 and 2021.

Currently, the Nagarjunasagar reservoir holds water at 547 feet against an MDDL of 510 feet while Srisailam has a water level of 809 feet against an MDDL of 834 feet. The twin reservoirs are holding water almost up to full capacities, with Osmansagar holding a level of 1,788 feet against the full tank level (FTL) of 1,790 feet and Himayatsagar holding a level of 1,762.25 feet against FTL of 1,763.50.

“As we have sufficient storage, we would not require drawing of water through emergency pumping this summer,” said P. Ravi Kumar, director (technical), HMWS&SB.

Also, the demand for water tankers could be met as there is a routine demand typically seen in every summer with respect to bookings. The water board, with a fleet of 689 water tankers across 68 filling stations, can typically ply as many as 5,522 trips per day. However, as on March 31, there were just 2,473 tanker bookings across the city, M. Prabhu, chief general manager, engineering, HMWS&SB, informed.