More water for a bigger city

The government on Tuesday announced that the project to divert Godavari water for augmentation of drinking water to Hyderabad phase 1 will be completed by 2009.

Tenders for the project will be invited by year end after studying the detailed report and financial issues. Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy took this decision at a review meeting with minister for municipal administration Koneru Ranga Rao and senior officials of the department.

Water and Power Consultancy Services Ltd (Wapcos), a Central government undertaking, which was entrusted with the task of studying the feasibility of diverting the Godavari, made a presentation to the Chief Minister.

Wapcos put the population projection for Greater Hyderabad and surrounding areas including the Cantonment at 1.71 crore by 2031. For this population, the projected drinking water requirement would be about 30 TMC by 2031, excluding the water now available from existing sources.

Wapcos suggested the drawal of 7.3 TMC of water in the first phase of the Godavari Drinking Water Supply Scheme to Greater Hyderabad at the rate of 120 million gallons per day (MGD).

As per the consultancy report, water could be tapped from Yellampalli at the Sripadasagar reservoir. The Water Board has been asked to prepare a detailed project report for drawing 7.3 TMC of water from the site at Yellampalli within two months, and come up with a financial model for the project. Dr Reddy wanted the Water Board and Wapcos to come out with a tight time schedule for the preparation of a detailed project report, financial model and launching of the project.

Source: Deccan Chronicle