Hyderabad: The early onset of the monsoon has brought cheer to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), with major projects like Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam starting to receive inflows, albeit not in huge quantities. Sources said that the water board can now manage with the water available in Nagarjuna Sagar for almost two weeks without going for emergency pumping. An official said the present water level in Nagarjuna Sagar is at 512 feet against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 590 feet, and the water level in Srisailam is 818 feet against the FRL of 885 feet, with inflows of about 20,000 cusecs to both Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar. Compared to May 30 last year, Nagarjuna Sagar water level was at 504 feet, and Srisailam was at 806 feet. Similarly, in Yellampally reservoir on the Godavari river, which supplies water to part of the city, the water level is at 468 feet against the 485 feet FRL, and it was 460 feet on the same day last year. “As rains started across the state, for the past week, both Krishna and Godavari have been receiving good inflows. There was no need for emergency pumping in Nagarjuna Sagar, which begins if the water level reaches below 510 feet minimum draw down level (MDDL), as the present water level is 512 feet. With the rains, the demand for water tankers has also considerably come down from 10,500 tankers per day to 6,500 tankers per day in the past one week,” HMWSSB managing director K Ashok Reddy told TOI on Friday.Last month, the water board made preparations for emergency pumping from Puttamgandi near Nagarjuna Sagar as the water level was depleting. The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) had last week allocated 10 tmcft of water from Nagarjuna Sagar to Telangana main to meet the drinking water requirements, especially for Hyderabad. It even allowed to draw water up to 505 feet from Nagarjuna Sagar and 800 feet from Srisailam below the MDDL, as the water level was alarmingly dipping due to high water demand and depleting groundwater level.Officials said that as there is no need for emergency pumping from Nagarjuna Sagar now, the board can save several crores in water bills for pumping the water. Hyderabad city requires about 581 million gallons per day (MGD) of water, out of which 270 MGD is drawn from the Krishna River (Nagarjuna Sagar) under Krishna phases I, II, and III. The officials hope that continuous rains in the state will help the board to reduce the water supply through tankers considerably in the coming days.
