Last five tmc left in NSP above critical offtake level of 500 ft

The project level has already fallen below 505 feet.

Hyderabad: The Nagarjuna Sagar project has been left with the last five tmc of water above the critical offtake level of 500 feet to support drinking water supply to Hyderabad and other districts and cities relying on it.

The project level has already fallen below 505 feet. With the Hyderabad requirement alone being 1.6 tmc a month, assured supplementation would be crucial in the event of a delayed monsoon.

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The KRMB has allotted 8.5 tmc of water to the state from the left over storage of the project to meet its drinking water needs as it had already exhausted its allotted quota of 35 tmc of water for the water year. Ever since the project level fell below the minimum draw down level (MDDL) of 510 feet, the water drawls have been switched over to the emergency pumping system.

Hyderabad is expected to face problems in water supply as the groundwater table also registered a sharp decline. In case of the NSP level falling below 500 feet, floating pumps have to be used for drawing water from the project, said officials. The Singur project, which has about 15 tmc of water in its present storage could lend due support to the water supply system to some extent.

The Sriram Sagar project has over 10 tmc of water reserved exclusively to support drinking water supply. Mission Bhagiratha draws water from the SRSP to support water supply to Adilabad, Nirmal, Boath, Korutla , Kamareddy, Armoor and Dharmapuri. The water left in the present storage of the project would last till the end of June , said officials.