The Krishna River Management Board's decision to release 4.3 tmcft of water from Srisailam reservoir to meet the drinking water needs of the riparian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, has come as a great relief for the Ongole Municipal Corporation which has been gripped by a severe water crisis this year.
The civic body has introduced once-in-four days water supply to tide over the present precarious situation as the available water is enough to meet the drinking water needs of the denizens only for the next 40 days even after rationing.
While the availability of water in summer storage tank I was 623.10 million litres, it was 1170.70 ml in summer Storage tank II as on Friday.
Welcoming the board's decision, Muncipal Commissioner S. Venkatakrishna said the water replenishment from river Krishna would go a long way in easing the water shortage, the worst-ever in the recent years.
The Working Group of the Board has announced release 5,000 cusecs of water for 10 days to meet the drinking water needs of, among other cities, Ongole, which is solely dependent on replenishment from river Krishna. The water released from Srisailam to Nagarjunasgar is expected to reach Ongole in about 10 days.
In an effort to reduce the dependability on river Krishna, the civic body wants to rely more upon Gundalakamma reservoir from which it was entitled to 0.882 tmc of water, Mr Venkatakrishna explained while talking to The Hindu .
“We have taken up on a war footing construction of an intake well and a pump house at a cost of Rs. 1 crore and the same will be completed by the middle of October'', he said.
He said replacement of the pipeline damaged during upgradation of the Chennai-Kolkata highway between Edugundlapadu and Thuravagunta would be carried out by the National Highways Authority of India from Tuesday at a cost of Rs 1.10 crore. The erection of new pipeline would be completed early October to ensure uninterrupted water supply to denizens from then onwards.
The civic body has mooted a Rs. 392 crore drinking water project under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) to draw 1.6 tmcft of water from Gundalakamma reservoir and strengthen the water distribution network in the city to find a long term solution to the water woes to meet the city's drinking water needs by the year 2032.
Civic works in progress on to tap water from Gundlakamma reservoir
