To meet the ever-increasing water requirements of the famous hill temple of Lord Venkateswara which is frequented on an average by over 65,000 pilgrims every day, the TTD management is now focussing on the conservation of rainwater if its efforts to go-in for a couple of high-raise check dams is of any indication.
Though the TTD has the rare distinction of having five minor and medium drinking water projects atop the holy shrine, its desire to have a couple of check dams speaks about its commitment to harvesting the rainwater.
The water requirements of the temple town is put around 14 Million Litres a Day (MLD). Thanks to cyclone Roanu (November last year), the TTD has temporarily stopped drawing water from the Telugu Ganga canal with the cyclone bringing copious water into its dams. Statistics reveal that water reserves available with the TTD are sufficient to meet the requirements of the temple town for another eight months.
If water is also drawn from the Telugu Ganga at the rate of 5MLD as per the agreement reached between the Tirupati municipality and the TTD, the reserves will meet the needs of the town for more than one year. To strike a balance between its increasing water requirements and the manifold explosion in the visiting pilgrims, the TTD is determined to tap and preserve every drop of rainwater.
Talking to The Hindu, TTD’s Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao said tenders for the construction of two high-raise check dams along the down terrains of the Gogarbham dam as identified by the experts committee would be invited shortly — probably in a week or two. This will help tap water even during light showers and cut down the dependency on the Telugu Ganga waters and thus minimise the drain on the TTD coffers. Because while it costs a meagre Rs. 10 to Rs. 12 to procure one Kilo Litre (KL) of water at Tirumala, the expenses shoot up to Rs. 26 per KL if the same is fetched from the borewells at Tirupati and further escalates to a mind-blowing Rs. 57 if drawn from the Telugu Ganga canal.
The proposed check dams are likely to have a height of seven metres.
Blue book
The management is also contemplating to go-in for a downright water budgeting programme so as to have a first-hand information with regard to the actual requirements, purpose of water utilised, amount of treated water, water received during the monsoons, drawn from the reservoirs etc., which will serve as a blue book to the posterity as all the drinking water projects atop the hill town are monsoon-fed.
Tenders for construction of high-rise check dams will be invited soon,
says E.O.
