Hyderabad: Outskirts to face water crisis

Hyderabad: Residents living in the peripheral areas of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) could face a severe water crisis this summer. This, because the civic body has not been able to build adequate number of reservoirs to store and supply water to the peripheries. Of total 56 reservoirs proposed to be built by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB), it has managed to build a mere eight. If the reservoir construction is not done by March, at least one-third of the city population will face water shortage. 

According to water board officials, the 56 reservoirs including ground-level service reservoirs (GLSRs) with a capacity of 279 million litres (ML) per day have been taken up for construction at Uppal, Kapra, Alwal, Ramach-andrapuram, Qutubu-llapur, LB Nagar, Rajen-dranagar, Serilinga-mpally , Kukatpally and Patancheru et al. The '1,900-crore project has been funded by Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO).

Till date, eight reservoirs have been commissioned and 18 reservoirs are ready for commissioning. The remaining are in various stages of construction. Work on two reservoirs at Kowkur and Jonna-banda could not be taken up due to land issues. The land belonging to the Rangareddy district is yet to be handed over to the water board. The board is currently busy laying pipelines connecting the reservoirs. The pipeline network will extend 1,800km, of which pipes have been laid on 1,600km of the network.

However, sources said that the HMWS&SB could manage only 50 per cent of the construction works on reservoirs, leading to a spectre of a water crisis in the peripheral circles even during the current year. The target dates for reservoir construction have been extended twice. 

A senior water board official said on condition of anonymity said that, apart from the reservoirs already built with a capacity of 37.5 ML, work is on at a brisk pace at 28 other locations which have a capacity to hold 148.20 MLs. 

He said out of 19 reservoirs in LB Nagar, construction of 10 is over and seven of them were inaugurated by urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao on Friday.