In November 2017 an order was issued by the Special Chief Secretary to the Government according permission to release 15 tmfct water from Singur to Nizamsagar, and Nizamsagar to Sriramsagar project (SRSP) through Kakatiya Canal for irrigation below Lower Manair Dam Ayacut and also for Mission Bhagiratha requirements for ensuring Rabi 2017 -2018.
Sixteen months later, its impact is showing up a worrying picture. The Singur Reservoir has completely dried up and there’s no water supply to more than 500 villages. To exacerbate, ground water too has dried up and several borewells have either dried up or are pumping out a trickle.
Even large defence establishments like the Ordnance Factory (OF) Medak, and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) are bearing the brunt. Water supply to both these establishments from Singur was completely stopped on the morning of February 26 sending them into frenzy. Though there was an advance intimation of stopping supply of water by the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) to the OF, the latter did not expect a sudden stopping of supply.
‘Successfully managing’
OF uses 33 units (each unit counts for 1 lakh litres) of water for domestic consumption while 12 units are used for industry’s production every day. With the supply cut, consumption for production has been slashed to four units. While it speaks for itself, an official involved in production said “they were successfully managing,” and there was no adverse impact.
“In the past we used to take up production in two units. But due to water scarcity it was reduced to only one unit,” said an official on condition of anonymity. Similarly, supply has been reduced from 33 units per day to 28 units per alternate day for the over 10,000 inhabitants of the OF’s residential colony. They have stopped watering the gardens inside the premises and officials were not available for comment.
Private water supply
Though HMWSSB is supplying water through tankers, the number is limited to only 10. So, the OF management has hired private parties to supply water through tankers.
“We used to supply 92,335 kilolitres of water to the Ordnance Factory and now it has been reduced to 5,500 kilolitres per day, while the supply to BDL has been reduced to 300 kilolitres per day from 909 kilolitres per day,” said a HMWSSB official.