Hyderabad likely to face no summer water shortage, says HMWSSB MD

HMWSSB Managing Director K Ashok Reddy said Hyderabad is unlikely to face water shortages this summer, with adequate supply levels except at Singur. The Water Board has ramped up tanker operations and alternative pumping arrangements to meet rising demand.

Hyderabad: This summer, Hyderabad might not be facing any water supply issues as all drinking water sources, except for Singur, have adequate levels, said HMWSSB Managing Director K Ashok Reddy.

Speaking to media persons here on Saturday, he said the water board was ready to provide 600 million gallons of water per day (MGD) to meet the demand, but due to a poor water supply network (Manjeera), it was able to supply 570 MGD. The remaining 45 days of summer were as crucial, and the water board is geared up with arrangements to tackle the water supply issues, he said.

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Regarding Singur, Ashok Reddy said the State government allowed the HMWSSB to draw water up to 8 TMC due to dam repair. “We will easily overcome this summer, but as a standby, we have made alternate arrangements for setting up emergency pumping to avoid inconvenience to the customers.”

The tanker demand has kept rising every year, and the water board has made 1.08 lakh trips in January, and the demand gradually rose to 1.50 lakh trips by April, he said. According to real-time data on tanker supply, the demand was seen primarily in only five divisions of Durgam Cheruvu, SR Nagar, Kukatpally, Manikonda and Hafeezpet.

Out of 14.50 lakh consumers of the HMWSSB, only 48,000 consumers were frequently booking tankers and the rest were booking based on their need. He said this trend indicated that, due to groundwater depletion, tanker bookings have risen.

Responding to concerns over a change in water colour in Hyderabad’s twin reservoirs, Ashok Reddy said consumers need not panic and measures were being taken to ensure clean water. He said due to the severe summer, the water in Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar reservoirs saw a slight change in colour.

HMWSSB this summer:

* To launch a mobile app, ‘Paani’ (Promote Awareness And Nurture Initiatives), aimed at enabling users to register complaints related to wastage of water

* To deploy Robotic Technology to address polluted water complaints

* To begin purchasing treated sewage water from 800 private STPs established by gated communities, villas and housing projects

* Tankers with a red colour will be used for this purpose