HYDERABAD: The beleaguered Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board officials who had heaved a sigh of relief with encouraging inflows into Singur, the major source of drinking water for the twin cities, are at their wits end.

The State Government's decision to apportion part of Singur water meant for Hyderabad to the farmers of Medak district could put the city water supply position in a tight spot.

"Where is the water in Singur? Against its full capacity of 30 TMC, there is hardly 4.5 TMC, which can sustain the drinking water needs of the city for a few months. Poor inflows have been the order of the day for past few years. Unless the reservoir is full, the apportion move will not serve the farmers or the twin cities," water experts contend.

Further, the Government's calculation that Hyderabad would have adequate water resources once the second phase of Krishna Drinking Water Supply Project (the first phase yielded 93 MGD and an equal volume is expected to reach the city by next summer in the second phase to offset the Singur supply of 90 MGD) gets completed cuts no ice. With the concept of Greater Hyderabad gaining ground, the demand would only grow by leaps and bounds.

Present demand

At present, the demand for drinking water in the twin cities was 240 MGD with Krishna and Singur accounting for 180 MGD while the rest being met by groundwater. "The proposal to take away Singur water citing the arrival of more Krishna water is illogical as more areas and populace is bound to become part of the city thanks to the Greater Hyderabad concept. Given the demand, the loss of a even a single TMC will be critical," they said.

The State Government took the decision to increase the volume of Medak farmers' share by 2 TMC, as it was one of the six demands put forth by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi at its recent meeting with the Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. At present, 4.06 TMC is supplied to Medak farmers while 7 TMC reaches Hyderabad. The cut is expected to come into place by next summer. While there was no immediate threat to the Singur supplies for the next one year, officials point out that the damage would be more in the longer run. More so because the city has been dependent on Singur apart from Osmansagar and Himayatsagar all the while and the HMWSSB distribution infrastructure totally harboured around them.

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