Urban News

The Hindu 03.03.2010

Dy. Mayor defends alternate day water supply

Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM: The water levels in Raiwada, Thatipudi, Yeleru and Meghadrigedda Reservoirs are at their lowest with only about 10 to 15 per cent availability of storage capacity available in them at the moment. The supply of water on alternate days has been resorted to avoid drinking water crisis in future, said Deputy Mayor Kotharu Dorabbayee.

Addressing a media conference here on Tuesday, he said at present the city was receiving 50 mgd (Million Gallons/ Day) which includes 28 mgd from Godavari, 13 mgd from Raiwada and six mgd from Thatipudi Reservoir. Of the 50 mgd, 10 mgd was being supplied to meet industrial needs, while the remaining 40 mgd water was being supplied to meet the drinking water needs of the city. The alternate day supply of one hour would ensure that the available water resources could be used till April-end.

Mr. Dorabbayee said daily water supply could be restored if the city received a few spells of rain in between. He felt that the suggestions being made in some quarters that instead of alternate day supply for an hour, the supply could be made daily for half-an-hour, were not feasible. Line discharges and wastage could be minimised if water was given for one hour at a stretch, he said.

He said the demand for drinking water has increased after the merger of 32 villages in Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC). It would go up further with the population of the city projected to reach 30 lakhs by 2020 due to large-scale migration as a result of the proposed petro corridor complex and IT hubs.

Referring to the release of 175 cusecs of water to farmers from the Raiwada Reservoir from February 26, the Deputy Mayor said he had written to the District Collector seeking a temporary reduction in the supply for irrigation as it would result in a drastic fall in the water level in the reservoir and thereby affect the drinking water supply to the city.

Mr. Dorabbayee said the GVMC had proposed Rs.14 crores for repair of bore wells and public taps under the Summer Action Plan. The approval of the State Government was awaited in this regard.

Replying to queries, he said 10 per cent of the 6,000 borewells in the city needed repairs and an additional 265 bore wells were sanctioned this year. He said DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) were sought for a laying of a pipeline for bringing Godavari water to the city with about Rs.1,000 crores and for the Raiwada pipeline with Rs.200 crores to meet the future water needs of the city.

He said de-silting at Mudasorlova Reservoir would be regulated and in other reservoirs it had to be taken up by the Irrigation Department.

Chief Engineer B. Jayarami Reddy, Superintending Engineer V. Chandrayya and Corporator Hanumantha Rao were also present at the media conference.

The Hindu 03.03.2010

Steps afoot to meet water needs in Nalgonda

Staff Reporter

NALGONDA: The district administration has mooted a contingency plan to check drinking water scarcity and ensure adequate supply of drinking water in the rural and urban areas in the district during the ensuing summer.

Collector S. A. M. Rizvi has reviewed the status of drinking water schemes and chalked out arrangements for meeting the drinking water requirements during summer with the officials concerned at a meeting held here on Tuesday.

Addressing the meeting, Mr. Rizvi asked the allied government departments and agencies to work in tandem and formulate comprehensive action plans for proper supply of drinking water till the end of summer.

He directed the municipal officials to remove illegal motors if any from the Pedda Devulapalli Cheruvu, the main drinking water source for Miryalaguda town, and take appropriate steps for preventing drinking water shortage during the next 4 months.

Requirement

The civic officials of Bhongir municipality informed the Collector that the town was receiving 30 lakh litres of drinking water from Sainikpuri metro water works as against the total requirement of 60 lakh litres per day. The remaining quantum of drinking water is being tapped from power bore wells and two open wells in the town, they said.

The Collector asked them to ensure early completion of the four overhead tanks under construction in the town.

The Suryapet municipal officials exuded confidence that the present water level at Anajipuram Cheruvu would meet the drinking water needs of the residents of the town for around 198 days.

The Nalgonda civic officials expressed their preparedness to meet the drinking water needs of the town to the tune of 180 lakh litres per day till August.

The Collector asked the Rural Water Supply officials to identify the villages prone to drinking water shortage division wise and utilise the funds earmarked for transportation of drinking water through tankers.