Unprecedented water crisis looms large over Hyderabad, other districts in Telangana

With just 11 TMC remaining in the Sripada Yellampalli project coupled with release of water from the Annaram and Sundilla barrages of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme due to alleged leakages, the situation is only getting worse

Hyderabad: An unprecedented water crisis is looming large over Hyderabad and a few other districts in the State as summer approaches. The State government is yet to unveil a contingency plan to tide over the potential crisis. With just 11 TMC remaining in the Sripada Yellampalli project coupled with release of water from the Annaram and Sundilla barrages of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) due to alleged leakages, the situation is only getting worse.

As per the summer action plan 2024 proposed by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the Greater Hyderabad area will need around 50 MGD (million gallons per day) in addition to the existing usage of 550 MGD. Water levels in majority of major reservoirs on Krishna and Godavari Rivers are already depleting, with only 319.22 TMC of total storage capacity of 517.81 TMC. The State government had already declared a crop holiday under several projects citing water shortage.

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Amid these conditions, the water level in Sripada Yellampally project reached around 11 TMC on Sunday against full storage capacity of 18.98 TMC. Considering the project’s dead storage level of 3.3 TMC, less than 7 TMC is available for usage.

Critical consumers, including Hyderabad and numerous other districts, depend on the Mission Bhagiratha water supply from the Sripada Yellampally project. However, the rapid depletion, at a rate of approximately one TMC per week, poses significant challenges to meeting the demand for Mission Bhagiratha.

To address this escalating crisis, Irrigation officials have proposed for urgent release of water from the Kadem project to sustain the required water level in the Sripada Yellampally project for supply of drinking water under Mission Bhagiratha. The Kadem project, currently holding around 3.57 TMC out of its full storage capacity of 7 TMC, faces its own challenges, as a crop holiday has been declared this year. Only around 1 TMC is available for release as the project’s dead storage level is 2.5 TMC.

Further, the State government recently directed the officials to release water downstream from the Sundilla barrage after alleged leakages were reported at the barrage. Though water could have been lifted to fill the Sripada Yellampally project from Sundilla barrage, officials were ordered otherwise, which is only worsening the situation.

With the water level of the Yellampally project dwindling, officials proposed that the State government consider releasing water from the Kadem project to the Sripada Yellampally project up to the crest level, emphasising the pressing need for immediate action to avert an unprecedented water scarcity in the State capital and other areas.