Water Board to rely on emergency pumping for uninterrupted water supply

 Hyderabad: The state irrigation department has assured the Water Board that it would maintain a minimum draw down level (MDDL) of 510 feet at Nagarjunasagar dam in Krishna river basin until the monsoon arrives, to allow for drinking water supply to the city.

The Water Board had told the government that the water level stood at 521.5 feet, and would hit the MDDL due to evaporation. Officials informed that water levels were depleting at the rate of 0.7 feet per day. The board said it would need to water above the MDDL in the wake of reports of a delayed monsoon.

The Krishna river provides 226 million gallons a day (MGD) of drinking water, and the rest of the 387 MGD comes from the Godavari, 226 MGD from the Krishna river.

A Water Board official said the assurance of maintaining MDDL came after it wrote to the state government about inviting tenders for emergency pumping from Nagarjunasagar dam.  He said that the government had the riparian states to release water into Nagarjunasagar from Srisailam.

Sources said that the board would draw water using big pumps machines. The HMWS&SB would spend '6 crore for pumping water and Rs 1 crore towards electricity charges.