Deccan Chronicle 28.12.2010
Experts warn of water shortage
December 28th, 2010
Dec. 27: Whatever grand water augmentation projects lie in the future, urban
development experts and elected representatives warn that the citizens of
Greater Hyderabad will find it hard to get even 80 LPCD of water per person per
day if proper and careful planning of available resources is not done now.
The government’s focus in 2011 should be to successfully bring 180 MGD of
water from the river Godavari to the city. Another major policy decision has to
be taken to revive the Krishna Phase-III project.
Vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, Mr Marri
Shahsidhar Reddy, said the city is losing 5.5 TMC of water that was allocated by
the Centre for the Krishna Phase-III.
“We do need Godavari water keeping in view the future requirements of the
city, but it will take four years for the project to be completed. Krishna
Phase-III, on the other hand, can be executed in less than a year as land
acquisition was completed before the project was shelved and it will cost only
Rs 1,000 crore compared to more than
Rs 3,375 crore for Godavari Phase-I
alone.”
Mr Srinivasa Chary, director of urban planning at the Administrative Staff
College of India, estimates that the water requirement of Hyderabad will go up
from the present 340 MGD per day to 1,200 MGD per day in the next 10-15 years.
Krishna Phase-III will provide an additional 90 MGD of water per day to the city
within a year. Once it is completed, the Godavari Phase-I will supply 180 MGD
per day, and the second and third phases will supply another 360 MGD per
day.
The MIM MP, Mr Asaduddin Owaisi, points out that the ongoing Telangana
agitation has charged the atmosphere. The water-drawing points of both, the
Krishna (Nagarjuna Sagar), and the Godavari (Yellampalli), are Telangana
hotspots. “Krishna Phase-III is a must and if the government does not react
immediately, no one can save the citizens from a catastrophe,” he said.
The BJP MLA, Mr G. Kishan Reddy, said farmers are up in arms against the
government because water is being supplied to the city from Singur. About 2.5
TMC has already been allocated to farmers from Singur.
