Hyderabad: No power to pump water

Hyderabad: Though the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board wants to pump 120 mgd (million gallons of water per day) from Manjeera and Singur reservoirs to meet the city’s requirements, it can’t be done immediately as their power connections have been disconnected.

Despite government orders and both reservoir being at full capacity, the HMWS&SB can only pump 30 mgd of water with one of the existing connections.

HMWS&SB director (Operations) G. Rameshwar Rao said, “We get a power bill of Rs 5 crore for both reservoirs to pump 120 mgd. As we were not using that, we had disconnected it to save on the power bill. For the past eight months there was no pumping.”

Manjeera is good for beer
HMWS&SB director (Operations) G. Rameshwar Rao said, “We have now reapplied for power to the Electricity department and hope to get it in the next three to four days and pump 120 mgd from Monday. At present we are using another power connection with which we can only pump 30 mgd.”

With Manjeera coming into the picture, beer firms would be supplied Manjeera water again as it was a big source of revenue. “There are several breweries in Medak district near Manjeera. We will be able to supply to beer companies too.”

Crown Beers International, Carlsberg India and United Breweries at Mallepally near Sangareddy, and Charminar Breweries of Sabmiller at Shivampet are located in Medak and produce thousands of litres of beer daily. Manjeera water is preferred for beer making as it enhances taste, say experts.