Heavy demand leaves TS with depleted water table
Tankers come back to quench thirst; Collectors worry over worse
The drinking water crisis has worsened across the state with the onset of summer. Out of 67 municipalities in Telangana, 60 municipalities are facing acute water shortage.
Only seven municipalities get water supply every day. Elsewhere, water is supplied once every two, three or even four, days.
With ground water levels falling, the water supplied to each household has been decreased to 40 LPCD (litres per capita per day) from 100 LPCD in municipalities where water is supplied every day.
The situation is worse in rural areas, with two more months to go for summer to end and rains to begin.
At a recent collectors’ conference, the collectors of 16 districts brought the dire water situation to the notice Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and expressed fears of the situation worsening in April and May.
The water stressed districts are Asifabad, Adilabad, Bhupalpally, Jagtial, Kamareddy, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nirmal, Nalgonda, Nagarkurnool, Ranga Reddy, Suryapet, Siddipet, Wanaparthy, Vikarabad and Mancherial.
In municipalities with alternate day supply, the water quantity has been decreased to 10 LPCD against 56 LPDC, based on the availability of water from both surface and power bores wells.
In municipalities where water is supplied once in three days, the quantity has been halved to 20 LPCD. Municipal minister K T Rama Rao directed the irrigation department to release water from various projects to fill nearby tanks to meet drinking water needs. “However, the irrigation officials have expressed their helplessness as all the irrigation projects have already hit dead storage levels,” said an MAUD official.
The panchayat raj and rural development department, which manages rural water supply, has sought `400 crore in contingency relief to supply water to villages through tankers and to repair wells and bore wells.
PR&RD minister Jupally Krishna Rao said, “We have identified 11,800 habitations that face severe drinking water crisis in summer. We need to supply water through tankers.”