Mission Paani: Many parts of Hyderabad face drinking water shortage; rainwater harvesting measures remain inadequate

Several parts of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) such as Kukatpally, Qutubullapur, LB Nagar and Seri Lingampally have been facing acute shortage of drinking water after the onset of summer. Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) officials maintain that about 40 percent of residential complexes in GHMC-controlled areas have installed rainwater harvesting pits. In fact, the K Chandrasekhar Rao government has made it mandatory for housing complexes spread over 200 square metres to install a rainwater harvesting pit, and non-compliance would attract a penalty. A residential neighbourhood in Hyderabad’s Begumpet has taken the lead to install rainwater harvesting pits. However, its coverage is pegged at 50 percent. Shiva Kiran, a local resident, says, “The state government has spent about Rs 700 crore in distillation of potable water. Ideally, it should have spent the sum on installation of rainwater harvesting pits. However, our dependence on water tankers has considerably reduced after the pits were installed.”

Raj Sekhar, another resident, agrees with Kiran. “The water crisis has been an annual problem every summer. However, tankers aren’t required any more after we installed rainwater harvesting pits. Personally, I feel that the water storage capacity is sufficient.” J Satyanarayana, a groundwater specialist with HMWSSB, says, “Ideally, we would like 100 percent installation of rainwater harvesting pits by residential colonies. However, only 30 percent have implemented the measure so far.” GHMC has empowered HMWSSB to dig 2,700 km of roads in 11 merged civic bodies, including Kukatpally, Uppal, LB Nagar and Quthbullapur, to lay drinking water pipelines. HUDCO, or Housing and Urban Development Corporation, has sanctioned a loan of Rs 1,900 crore for the water supply board to construct 60 reservoirs and lay 2,500 km of pipelines.