As reservoirs run low, Hyd stares at drinking water crisis by year-end | Hyderabad News

As reservoirs run low, Hyd stares at drinking water crisis by year-end

Hyderabad: The city’s core urban region (CURE) is staring at a severe drinking water crunch as key reservoirs supplying Hyderabad continue to deplete amid deficient rainfall and El Nino conditions. Right from Nagarjuna Sagar to Singur, inflows into major reservoirs have dropped sharply, with the situation particularly critical in Singur, which supplies water to the city’s IT belt.Currently, the Singur reservoir has only around 3.9 TMC of water left against its full capacity of 29.9 TMC. At barely 13% of its storage capacity, officials fear the reservoir might run dry within the next 60 days — by mid-Dec.What makes the situation more worrying is that Singur’s present storage is nearly half of what it held during peak summer. With Singur holding barely one-eighth of its capacity, the countdown to a potential water crisis in the western corridor has already begun.The crisis is not confined to Cyberabad. Osmansagar, an important source for the Old City and surrounding areas, has also recorded a significant decline. Water storage has fallen from around 3.5 TMC to 2.2 TMC, further narrowing the city’s available buffer.The situation has prompted the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) to begin preparations for a summer contingency plan. K Ashok Reddy, managing director of the water board, has directed officials to prepare comprehensive, area-wise contingency plans well in advance to ensure uninterrupted drinking water supply.“We will identify all areas dependent on Singur and Manjeera and prepare region-wise contingency plans specifying the alternative water source, supply route and quantity that can be provided to each locality in the event of a disruption. Areas that experience low pressure are also to be identified,” said a senior official in HMWSSB.Incidentally, this comes at a time when the Telangana govt has already declared a 17% rainfall deficit in the state and directed irrigation officials not to release any more water for agricultural purposes.Apart from Singur, Himayatsagar and Osmansagar, the CURE area also gets water from the Krishna through Nagarjuna Sagar and the Godavari through the Sripada Yellampally project. With official sources from the irrigation department indicating that water levels in major reservoirs across the Krishna and Godavari basins are concerningly low, it is feared that the city might soon be staring at an acute shortage of drinking water.“Water is drawn by the rural water supply dept by routing it through villages from various reservoirs and connecting lakes. Now, with water levels running low, a drinking water crisis may begin as early as Dec or Jan instead of summer,” a chief engineer of the irrigation department said. However, the govt’s priority is drinking water, not agricultural water supply, he added.