Yellampally water for parched Hyderabad areas

The last time water was lifted from the reservoir was in 2016

Hyderabad: After a gap of eight years, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS & SB) has begun emergency pumping from the Sripada Yellampally project .

The last instance of such water extraction from the reservoir on the banks of the Godavari was in 2016. This comes as a precautionary measure to ensure water supply to Hyderabad city remains uninterrupted, following a similar move at the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir in April.

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With depleted groundwater levels across the metropolis, water supply became a challenge for authorities in summer. An increase in the supply of water tankers was also observed with over 2.37 lakh trips in April alone.

The Yellampally project is left with live storage of just 4.21 TMC of water, of which around 168 million gallons per day (MGD) will be supplied to the city. A total of 20 pumps have been installed at the Murmur site to undertake this emergency pumping. While only seven are being used, others will be employed as per requirement.

“There was no flood from the upper Kaddam project as rainfall was low. As a result, the water level in the Yellampally project has started to decrease gradually. If this continues, there will be problems in the water supply. Before this happens, water is being lifted through emergency pumping,” a press statement released by the water board stated. Managing Director Sudarshan Reddy also inspected the site on Thursday.

Water pumped at this reservoir will be supplied to areas in the IT corridor, including Madhapur, Kondapur, Gachibowli, HITEC City, Lingampally, Miyapur, Chandanagar, Kukatpally, KPHB, Quthbullapur, Alwal and Malkajgiri.