Godavari water eyed to solve crisis in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: In this season of plenty, 1.5 lakh residents of Gopanpally, Puppalguda, the Financial District and other areas are still suffering from an acute water crisis. Though reservoirs on the Godavari and the Krishna rivers are brimming, a large section of the city is facing a water shortage because the Manjira river basin is dry.

Against its capacity of 30 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet), the Singur reservoir currently has a mere 0.46 tmc ft of water. The deficit rainfall in catchments areas like Latur and Bidar is said to be the reason for parts of the city having water scarcity. Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) officials say the board will compensate  for the scarce water in the Manjira with water from the Godavari, which is to be supplied through the ring main, but the work on the ring main is incomplete.

According to highly placed sources, though the water crisis is in three pockets — Rajendernagar, Serilingampally and Gachibowli — citizens in other areas too have a water shortage.

Sources said that water from the Godavari river cannot reach elevated areas such as Pappulguda, Manchirevula, Manikonda, Gopanpally and the three pockets mentioned above, since the supply line is incomplete.

Due to heavy inflows and continuous rainfall, ground water levels have risen a little in areas that get water from the Manjira. Residents have thus been relying on ground water. The HMWSSB thus claims that it has already stabilised the water supply. However, neither Krishna nor Godavari water can supplement the Manjira/ Singur water since the ring main and pipeline works from Ghanpur to Pantacheru will only be completed by August end.

“We are dependent on ground water and tankers even though dams across the state are full. Though the matter has been brought to the notice of the water board, officials said that ring main work was yet to be completed and Godavari water will be supplied from the second week of September,” said P Raghuram Prasad, who lives in phase 2 of Vinayanagar in Pappulguda. Echoing his concern, Abhay Singh, who lives in Mantri Celestia apartments in the financial district, said that about 1,200 families have no water despite the incessant rainfall.

He said that despite collecting huge taxes the water board has not resolved the water issue.

The water tankers on which the residents rely has cost them `2 crore annually. “In spite of assurances of uninterrupted water supply, our area has been reeling under acute water crisis. We receive water just once a week,” he added.

A senior water board official told this newspaper that the HMWSSB has already resolved the water issues in the three major pockets of Rajendernagar, Serilingampally and Gachibowli.

He claimed that the board has already constructed the ring main to compensate for the lack of Manjira water with water from the Godavari and so there is no water crisis in the city as the board has been supplying water on alternate days.

When asked about elevated areas that are still reeling under water shortages, the official conceded that the matter has yet to be addressed in  Pappulguda, Manchirevula, Manikonda, Gopanpally and the three other pockets. He said that the HMWSSB has been supplying 81 million litres from Osman Sagar and 38 million litres from Himayathsagar.