Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has sanctioned Rs. 35 crores towards a contingency plan for drinking-water supply during this summer.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday sanctioned Rs. 35 crores towards a contingency plan for drinking-water supply during this summer.
Out of the cited amount, Rs. 15 crores will be used by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply And Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), and Rs. 20 crores by other Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
The Chief Minister directed the HMWSSB to supply water on alternate days to water-deprived areas including Alwal, Malkajgiri, Qutbullapur, Kapra and Uppal. Currently, drinking water is supplied only once in 3 days to these areas.
Kiran Kumar Reddy said that there are no water availability hassles, and instructed the HMWSSB authorities to chalk out an immediate action plan for water-supply to the cited areas.
The Chief Minister also asked the board officials to collect random samples of water from different areas in the city on a daily basis. The results should be made public on every Monday, he added.
The officials informed the Chief Minister that there are problems of pumping and supply of water in certain areas due to the power outages during summer.
They also reported colouration of water in the Himayatsagar and Osmansagar lakes due to the submerged vegetation. However, scientists say the colouration is not harmful, said the officials. The board is taking steps to control the colouration, they added.
Pointing out that dedicated power supply feeders were required at Mailardevpally, Singur and Krishna (Phase I & II), the HMWSSB officials informed the Chief Minister that a comprehensive plan has been prepared and sent to the Disaster Management Department for claiming sanction under the calamity relief fund.
The officials told Kiran Kumar Reddy that as of now, the HMWSSB is supplying drinking-water to a population of 87.52 lakhs at 340 MGD as against the current demand of 459 MGD.
Officials informed the CM that the Public Health Engineering Department, which manages urban water supplies to Urban Local Bodies (other than the GHMC areas), cater to the needs of 108 municipalities and 15 municipal corporations.
Drinking water is being supplied on a daily basis to 87 towns, on an alternate-day basis to 29 towns, once in 3 days to 4 towns (Madanapalle, Punganur, Warangal and Nalgonda), once in 4 days to 1 town (Mahabubnagar), and once in 5 days to 2 towns (Rayachoti and Badvel).
Currently, 623 mobile tankers make 4,485 trips every day to various ULBs. Duration of supply is 1 hour in 38 towns, 1-2 hours in 61 towns, 2-3 hours in 9 towns, 3-4 hours in 11 towns and above 4 hours in 4 towns.
Under the JNNURM, Rs. 2,325 crores have been sanctioned for 68 water supply schemes, which are expected to add 780 MLD of water to the system.
In addition to the JNNURM, the state government has sanctioned 29 schemes under different financial assistances.
On completion of the ongoing schemes, the installed capacity will be raised from 940 MLD to 1904 MLD.
Minister For Municipal Administration Maheedhar Reddy, Minister For Labour D Nagender, Principal Secretary, HMWSSB MD M Jagadeeshwar, Disaster Management Commissioner T Radha, Finance Secretary SE Sekhar Babu, and other officials were at the meeting. (INN)