Water Schemes

After the State of Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956, schemes for the augmentation of water supply to the twin cities were taken up to meet the increased demand. The storage capacity of 45 million gallon per day (mgd) from Osmansagar and Himayatsagar was just sufficient for the population of 1.2 million in 1961. For the increasing population, a barrage was constructed in 1965 across the Manjeera river, a tributary of the Godavari. Manjira phase I as the project was called, supplied 15mgd of water to the cities. Phase II of the project was completed in 1972 and it supplied a further 30mgd.

By 1991 the combined capacity of Manjira phase I and II, Himayatsagar and Osmansagar was only about 100mgd, while the demand for water in twin cities was 160mgd. Another storage reservoir was built across Manjira near Singur, upstream of the Manjira barrage. This, however, has resulted in mass destruction - 68 villages get submerged every time the reservoir was at its maximum level. Singur, also known as Manjira phase III, was completed in 1991. Phase IV, with funds from the World bank, concluded in 1993. The total capacity of both is 60 mgd. Water from Singur travels by gravity for 26 km. It has to be pumped up a ridge for 18 km and then travel another 25-28 km by gravity.

Water supply in Hyderabad has been restricted to alternate days since 1993. As the population of the city touched the five million mark in 1994, water requirements went up from 45 mgd in 1961 to 170 mgd in 1993. Although 45 mgd of water was available in 1961, the present availability is only 83 mgd. Of this 83 mgd., 77 mgd comes from the three phases of the Manjira project. The water supply department spends large sums every month on electricity to pump the water to Hyderabad. And though phase IV of the project has been commissioned in 1993, the city still gets less than half of its actual requirement, and falls short by 87 mgd.

The Krishna water supply project, an interstate tribunal allocating the Krishna waters between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, has run into rough weather since 1989. Besides, revenue earnings of the government are largely eroded in paying for administrative overheads. There is certainly no money to bring water from the Krishna. So the government has turned to the World Bank for funding. The World Bank insists that the water prices be raised to make the scheme viable. This would hit the poorer sections of people. In such a situation the government has to count on alternatives like improving lakes and tanks.