The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Poor monsoon worries HMWSSB

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Thursday, Jul 17, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Poor monsoon worries HMWSSB

J.S. Ifthekhar

Board had planned to supply water daily to the entire city

Hyderabad: Man proposes but God disposes. This is exactly the case with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB). The latter’s plans to extend daily water supply to the entire City by August have gone awry with the monsoon playing truant. The whole plan is now put on the back burner as the Board is busy ensuring that the present supply continues.

With Himayatsagar and Osman Sagar going dry and the water level plummeting in Singur and Manjeera, officials are not even prepared to hazard a guess as to when the entire City would get daily water. “Unless there is sufficient water we can’t think of daily supply,” said Board’s managing director, G. Asok Kumar.

The falling water level in Singur is a cause for concern. The level on Wednesday was 516.61 meters, just a meter short of the dead storage level.

Alarmed the Board has moved a couple of motors to the dam to pump water if the level touches 515 meters. During the corresponding period last year the level in Singur was 518.894 meters. The level in Akkampally reservoir (Krishna water) is also going down but officials don’t see any problem. There have been practically no inflows in any of the reservoirs during the last few weeks. Even if there is no monsoon, the Board is hopeful of continuing the present supply of 287 mgd till the next summer, said S. Prabhakar Sharma, director (Technical), HMWSSB.

Uninterrupted supply

Meanwhile, the Board has written to the CPDCL to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the various pumping stations. The power shutdowns are badly affecting the water supply leading to localised shortages. Apart from the dry spell, another factor coming in the way of daily water supply is shortage of ductile iron pipes. The Board has got only 225 km of the 400 km pipes required for creating the network for daily water supply. There are only two manufacturers – Electro Steel, Kolkatta, and Lanco Industries, Chennai – who provide these pipes.

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