2 new tanks to be built for Hyderabad's water needs

Hyderabad: The TS government will soon begin acquiring land on the city’s outskirts for construction of two reservoirs to end the drinking water woes in the city. The proposed reservoirs will be built at Keshavapuram and Rachakonda at a cost of Rs 7,600 crore and will be filled with Godavari and Krishna waters. Nearly 6,000 acres of land is needed for the reservoirs. Plans have been readied to acquire 3,500 acres initially for the Keshavapur reservoir. Around 1,500 acres of farmland is likely to be submerged.

Notification for Land Acquisition will be issued soon after the TS Land Acquisition Act, 2016, gets the President’s nod. These reservoirs are aimed at ensuring daily drinking water supply throughout the GHMC area and the surrounding villages. Each reservoir will have a storage capacity of 20 tmc ft. The government has entrusted the responsibility of preparing the Detailed Project Report for these reservoirs to the Central government undertaking WAPCOS.

Municipal minister K.T. Rama Rao, who reviewed the project with officials, asked them to start the land acquisition exercise by approaching owners and farmers and seeking their consent so that acquisition can begin as soon as TS Land Act receives  the President's nod expected anytime now. He said IL&FS has already offered to fund the project and if land acquisition is completed faster, the reservoirs can be completed within two years.

The government also needs to seek environment clearance from the Centre since about 2,000 acres identified for the project are reserve forest lands. Keshavapur reservoir will be filled with Godavari water by tapping from Mallannasagar reservoir in Medak district and Rachakonda reservoir will be filled with Krishna water by pumping water from Dindi lift irrigation scheme near Malkapuram in Nalgonda district.