Rs 5,000-crore infra projects for Hyderabad

Involves establishment of 31 STPs, construction of additional service reservoirs, laying new pipelines

Hyderabad: In a major thrust to drinking water and sewerage infrastructure in Hyderabad Urban Agglomeration (HUA) limits, the State government on Thursday approved two mega projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore through two separate Government Orders. Once completed, Hyderabad would emerge as the only city in the country to achieve 100 per cent sewage treatment.

“This is good news for Hyderabadis. Never in the history of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s (HMWSSB) have administrative sanctions been accorded for over Rs 5,000 crore in one day,” Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao.

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Stating that the two mega projects would be completed in two years, the Minister, addressing a media conference here, said 31 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) would be established in addition to the existing 25 STPs, at an estimated cost of Rs 3,866.21 crore. The second project costing Rs 1,200 crore involves the HMWSSB constructing additional service reservoirs for 137 MLD and laying a new pipelines network covering about 2,100 km to supply adequate water to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Gram Panchayats falling under ORR limits but beyond GHMC limits.

The existing 25 STPs are treating 772 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage of the 1,650 MLD generated in GHMC limits. This amounts to 46.78 per cent treatment of sewage, the Minister said. “Once the 31 new STPs become operational, it will aid in the treatment of 1,950 MLD sewage including 1,650 MLD generated in GHMC limits and 300 MLD generated in ORR areas. This would meet the sewage treatment requirements for the next 10 years,” Rama Rao said, adding: “This will make Hyderabad the only city in the country to achieve 100 per cent sewage treatment.”

The project will be taken up in hybrid annuity mode, under which the State government will bear 40 per cent of the project cost and the remaining will be borne by contracting agencies. “This model is being implemented in Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he explained.

Supplementing the efforts to ramp up sewerage infrastructure, the government will also accord top priority to adequate drinking water supply to the fringe areas under ORR limits. After State formation, HMWSSB implemented a project to supply water to 190 villages situated beyond GHMC limits and within the ORR area, at a cost of Rs 756.56 crore. However, colonies in Gramakanta of villages were not covered in the project, the Minister pointed out. With many residential colonies’ associations appealing for drinking water supply, the government approved the Rs 1,200 crore project. Under this project, two lakh new connections will be given and about 20 lakh families will benefit from this exercise, the Minister said.

“When the details of the projects were submitted to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao during the recent Cabinet meeting, he approved them immediately. On behalf of Hyderabadis, we thank the Chief Minister for approving the projects,” Rama Rao said. Regarding HMWSSB being entrusted with the task of sewerage maintenance in villages under ORR limits and beyond GHMC limits again, the Minister said there were no coordination issues between GHMC and HMWSSB. In fact, HMWSSB has already recruited 600 employees to take up the maintenance works.