The Hindu : Drinking water: Kurnool gearing to switch to Gajuladinne

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 13, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Drinking water: Kurnool gearing to switch to Gajuladinne

By Our Staff Reporter

KURNOOL, JAN. 12 . The Municipal Corporation is preparing to switch over to Gajuladinne project for drinking water needs of the city soon with the water level coming down in the Tungabhadra river and the KC canal.

The Municipal Commissioner, K. Venkatrami Reddy, accompanied by a team of reporters inspected the water position at Tungabhadra river, Sunkesula barrage and Gajuladinne project on Monday. The corporation released an amount of Rs 10 lakhs for repairs to the channel that brings water from the Gajuladinne canal to G. Singavaram point, 10 km from the city. Out of 30 cusecs proposed drawal from the Gajuladinne project, about 25 cusecs is released into the KC canal at G. Singavaram to supply to the main pumping station at Munagalapadu and about five cusecs into the river to recharge the infiltration wells in the river.

A leading channel is being dug to take the water directly to the wells in the river. Mr. Venkatrami Reddy said that with the depleting levels in the Tungabhadra river, the city might have to switch over to the Gajuladinne project from the first week of February. Last year, the supply started from the Gajuladinne from February 8. Considering the poor realisation in the river this time, the crisis might start much earlier this year.

The city faced the worst crisis during peak summer two years ago because of unexpected drying up of the river. The corporation is under pressure from the ruling party to supply on daily basis considering the election time. But the officials fear that the supply has to be ensured even after the election till the river resumes flowing during the next monsoon. The requirement of the city is around 85 lakh gallons per day. The dependability on the Gajuladinne project might have ended last year itself if the summer storage tank or the reservoir at Sunkesula were ready by now.

The summer storage tank, costing Rs 14 crores with a capacity of 160 mcft, would be ready only by next year. The SS tank would ensure supply to the city for three months. On the other hand, the dispute over the closure of construction vent between the irrigation authorities and the people of Telengana area on the northern bank has made it impossible to store water from the current season. The reservoir with provision for storing 1.2 tmcft could have completely met the needs of the city. Gajuladinne is considered the only reliable source for the summer this year too. The corporation authorities decided to coordinate with the irrigation officials regularly since the level in the Gajuladinne project is precarious. As on Monday, the storage in Gajuladinne project was 770 mcft while the irrigation authorities had promised the farmers under the project to supply for the third wetting at the end of January. The single wetting would take away 200 mcft leaving around 500 mcft for the drinking water needs.

According to officials, the evaporation losses are around 4 mcft per day while the city needs would be around 3 mcft per day. The storage in the reservoir would be built up by transferring water from the Tungabhadra dam. Last year, around 800 mcft was supplied to the Gajuladinne project. The officials hoped the same amount of water this year from the TB dam this year. Effective monitoring is required since the water available in the Tungabhadra dam in only 1.3 tmcft, against 2 tmcft last year. Mr. Venkatrami Reddy said they would be confident if around 1 tmcft is stocked in the Gajuladinne after the filling from the Tungabhadra dam.

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