The Hindu 19.06.2013
Godavari waters for twin cities by August next
The drinking water woes of twin cities will certainly be
overcome by August next year with both the Godavari Phase I and Krishna
Phase III to be completed by then, Municipal Administration and Urban
Development Minister M. Mahidhar Reddy said here on Tuesday.
Seeking
to allay misgivings of Congress members M. Ranga Reddy and M.
S.Prabhakar Rao in the Legislative Council, the Minister said works were
in full swing under both the schemes. Of 186 km long pipeline to be
laid to bring Godavari waters from Yellampally barrage in Karimnagar to
Ranga Reddy, 126 km pipeline has been laid.
The
Minister said there was no dearth of funds for the Rs.3,378 crore
project to supply 172 mgd of water for twin cities. While Rs.1,980 crore
was sanctioned, Rs.1,280 crore had been spent so far. The HUDCO
sanctioned Rs.1,000 crore loan for the project, he told the House.
The Krishna Phase III project would be completed by June, 2014.
From
this year, rainwater harvesting would be implemented in the Greater
Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area and an action plan had been
formulated to improve the ground water table. The HMDA, GHMC and NGOs
were working jointly to protect lakes in the twin cities. About 50 to 50
tanks were fenced and full tank levels were being marked to prevent
encroachments, he disclosed.
