Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board HMWSSB

The situation is the result of deficit rainfall during the current year

Groundwater table continues to fall in the city setting alarm bells ringing. Piezometers installed at different locations show a steep fall in water levels.

The average depth to ground water level recorded during April ranges from 4 metres to 26.20 metres. The lowest average water level is recorded in the piezometer at Quli Qutb Shah Government Polytechnic, Bahadurpura and the deepest at the granite formation in Institute of Electronic, Marredpally.

The range of depth to water level is 0-5 metre in Bahadurpura Mandal, 5-10 metre in Asifnagar, Musheerabad, Himayatnagar, Khairatabad, Saidabad and Shaikpet Mandals, 10-20 metre in Ameerpet, Bandlaguda, Charminar and Nampally Mandals and more than 20 metre in Marredpally.

CONCRETISATION

The situation is the result of deficit rainfall (-27 %) during the current water year. As against the normal rainfall of 811.60 mm, Hyderabad district received 594.8 mm in 2011-12. However, experts feel it is not just deficit rainfall which led to fall in water levels. Concretisation was also a major factor in causing run off. As a result there was less percolation of rain water, say officials at the Ground Water Department.

The ground water scenario in Ranga Reddy district is no better. The water level depth recorded in April range from 5.0 metre to 24.48 metre below ground level. The shallowest water level is recorded in the piezometer at Shahmirpet village and the deepest level in the piezometer at Pargi Mandal.

DROUGHT IMPACT

In fact the network of 37 piezometers set up in various locations give a clear hint of effect of drought in Ranga Reddy district, officials say.

The Ground Water Department has strongly recommended construction of rooftop rainwater harvesting structures and maintenance of existing structures by way of removal of top sand layer during pre-monsoon so that the recharge to ground water will be more once monsoon sets in.

The Water Board has launched a campaign to persuade people to take up rainwater harvesting structures in their premises. There is a good response from residents to camps held in Nizampet, Kukatapply and Dattatreya colony.

As on today, the Board has a total of 24,646 applications from households for the rainwater harvesting structures. The maximum applications of 8355 are from Division X, 3253 from Division VI and 3151 from Division IX. “We will try to complete the rainwater harvesting structures at the earliest,” says J. Satyanarayana, Assistant Director, Ground Water.

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The Water Supply Board is spending thousands of crores of rupees to bring additional water to Hyderabad from the phase-I of Godavari and the phase-III of the Krishna project. Despite this, it has failed to put in place an effective mechanism to check the huge quantities of water that is going unaccounted for.

Officials admit that over 160 million gallons of the total 340 million gallons of water supplied every day is going unaccounted. This means, nearly 50 per cent of the total daily supplies are not giving a single penny to the Water Board, which is spending Rs 3,375 crore to execute the Godavari phase-I and another Rs 1,700 crore on getting water from the Krishna phase-III.

The Water Board supplies 340 MGD daily in the city, but collects bills for only 180 MGD water. As per the revised tariff slabs, the Board should get over Rs 80 crore in monthly bill collections for 342 MGD water supplied per day in the city. However, it is getting Rs 50- 52 crore per month. The unaccounted for water is due to leakages and wastage resulting from old pipelines, the illegal tapping of water from the main pipelines, the lack of monitoring of public stand posts (public taps), meterless and illegal water connections, besides supplies to religious and charitable institutions like temples and mosques.

There are only 1.20 lakh connections in the city which have meters, and bills are issued based on the water supplied to these connections. For the remaining connections (non-metered), it is a minimum bill of less than Rs 220 per month, even though they consume water three times more than the minimum monthly bill. The total water connections in the city is 7.50 lakh connections. Water Board in-charge director (technical) Sundar Ram Reddy admitted that over 40 per cent of the total water supplied daily was going unaccounted, but hastened to say that every step was being taken to check this wastage.

“We are taking measures such as installation of meters to all the connections individual, institutional, public stand posts and other consumers so that there is an account of water being supplied to each connection,” he stated. Mr Reddy explained: “Our priority is to measure the water and subsequently concentrate on billing.”

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Hyderabad, June 26 -- Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board today said that water is being supplied normally in the twin cites and to meet the requirement of citizens in areas of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation 340 to 345 million gallon is being supplied on daily basis.
Refuting the report from a section of media, regarding water shortage, water board officials told that a total of 340.34 MGD water is being supplied in the twin cities from Osman Sagar, Himayath Sagar, Manjeera, Phase I II III & IV and Krishna Phase I & II.
They claimed that there is no shortage of water. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Siasat Daily. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at [email protected]

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The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has written to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to stop its tunneling work below the Basheerbagh flyover, fearing that there could be a repeat of the collapse that occurred five years ago when a portion of the Panjagutta flyover that was under construction caved in.

Basheerbagh is one of the most traffic-dense bridges in the city. Raising safety concerns, GHMC authorities have pointed out to the HMWS&SB and the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority that the trenchless tunneling work under progress to lay the trunk main sewers was very close to the pillars of the Basheerbagh flyover. “Unless the foundations of the flyover and stability of the pillars are checked, tunneling work should not be taken up. The HMDA has constructed the flyover and it has details about its foundations and piers. We have written to the HMDA also to verify the foundation,” GHMC engineer-in-chief R. Dhan Singh said.

The Water Board has been digging to a depth of between 4m and 7m to lay the huge trunk main sewers, a project that has been going on for the last several years. The drainage pipes are being laid from Kacheguda, Nimboli Adda up to Basheerbagh and Liberty. The HMWS&SB officials, however, claimed that due care has been taken to ensure that the foundations of the Basheerbagh flyover were not affected by the trenchless tunneling work.

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Poor rainfall, shrinking lakes, depleting water levels in reservoirs and drawing of excess water through borewells have had an impact on the groundwater levels in different areas of the city.

Poor rainfall, shrinking lakes, depleting water levels in reservoirs and drawing of excess water through borewells have had an impact on the groundwater levels in different areas of the city.

A study of hydrographs indicates that over the years, water table has depleted in many places like Bowenpally, Aghapura, Erragadda, Basheerbagh, Langer Houz, Jubilee Hills, Begumpet, Koti, West Marredpally, Gudimalkapur, Musheerabad, Sanathnagar, Madhapur, said Dr. P.D. Sridevi, Principal Investigator of National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) on Friday.

Addressing a workshop on “Ground water in Hyderabad: Issues of Access and Regulation”, she said that the ground water being exploited through borewells from depths ranging up to 300 metres so much so that in the pre-monsoon, water level was plummeting between five metres to 20 metres Below Ground Level (BGL).

There was slight improvement post-monsoon with the BGL being two to 15 metres. Hyderabad and its surrounding areas like Shamshabad, Shamirpet, Medchal and Keesara were under the “Over Exploited” category as per the A.P. Ground Water Department’s 2010 report, she informed.

Metals like cadmium, nickel etc have also been detected beyond permissible levels in the ground water of Katedan, Nacharam, Jeedimetla and Patancheru industrial areas. The workshop was organised by Joint Action for Water (JAW), Chethana Society and other civic societies.

BJP Floor leader G. Kishen Reddy, who was the chief guest, said construction of rain harvesting pits, should be made conditional before building plans are approved. HMWSSB’s General Manager (Quality Assurance & Testing) K.S. Narsappa, said water supply was adequate till September. There was a heavy demand for tankers this season as a majority of borewells had gone dry.

Dr. D. Narasimha Reddy of Chethana Society requested the proposed Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority’s master draft plan for core city be put on hold. “The proposed plan does not have any provision for addressing drinking water issues. There is a drinking water shortage in the city already and it would worsen the situation further if HMDA was expanded,” said Mr. Reddy. A. Sridevi of JAW and others also spoke during the workshop.

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HYDERABAD: As the holy Ramazan month is fast approaching, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) is gearing up for an uninterrupted water supply to the mosques spread all over the twin cities.

With 40% of Muslim population in the city set to observe the holy month which commences on July 20, HMWS&SB is leaving no stone unturned to provide hassle-free water supply.

"We have decided to provide adequate water supply to around 5,000 mosques located in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, Mecca Masjid and Idd Gha through mobile tankers in addition to the regular piped water supply," HMWS&SB director-technical, D Sundar Rami Reddy told TOI.

In addition to the existing tanker trips the water board will lay more emphasis on the localities in the old city. The board also will adjust the water supply timings and would release water during non-fasting hours i.e between 7 pm and 4.30 am in the old city area.

A water tanker will be separately arranged for making regular trips to Mecca Masjid. The tanker will fill the masjid sump during the entire Ramzan month. Moreover, the technical staff of the board will check water samples at all resorvoirs and distribution points to prevent contamination.

The staff will attend supply leakages and drainage overflows in the surrounding areasof Mecca Masjid during the holy month. Top priority would be accorded to attend complaints on leakages and drainage overflows, the official added.

The board will also attend desilting of sewers near the Mosques. Damaged manhole covers near the mosques will be replaced.
Water camps will be opened at Idd Gha to supply water sachets to the public.

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