Hyderabad: Decades-old Red Hills reservoirs cleaned to restore water quality

The decades-old Red Hills service reservoirs in Hyderabad were cleaned after water in Osman Sagar and Himayath Sagar turned green due to rising temperatures. Officials said the maintenance work was aimed at improving water quality and ensuring smooth operations.

Hyderabad: The decades-old ground level service reservoirs at Red Hills have been cleaned as part of maintenance works after water in the twin reservoirs of Osman Sagar and Himayath Sagar turned green as temperatures rose over the past three weeks, officials said.

Four ground level service reservoirs, built over 40 years ago on the same premises at Red Hills, serve several key areas in the heart of the city. The raw water drawn from Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar is sent to Asif Nagar filter beds for purification and then supplied to the four reservoirs at Red Hills, which officials said has been a decades-old practice.

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Officials said the cleaning was also carried out to improve upkeep of the reservoirs and ensure smoother operations. “For this, we have taken a 24-hour shutdown and cleaned them within this time. The entire cleaning process was carried out under the supervision of senior technical officials of the operation and maintenance wing,” an official said.

Over one lakh consumers in areas including Red Hills, Mangalhat, Ziaguda, Allabanda, Ghode-Ki-Kabar, Boggulakunta, Gowiliguda, Sultan Bazar, Hindi Nagar, Gun Foundry and adjoining areas get potable water. The reservoirs were built with a capacity of 31.50 million litres to meet demand four decades ago, but the population has increased four-fold and the existing reservoirs’ capacity does not match current needs.

A senior HMWSSB official told Telangana Today that there was a proposal a decade ago to build new service reservoirs by increasing their capacity and though there is enough space, it did not materialise. “If new reservoirs are to be built, the existing service reservoirs have to be demolished and the water board cannot do this,” he said.