A Perspective on Vizag
Deputy Mayor defends GVMC stand on plea to prevent crisis in future
GVMC Office, March 2, 2010
The Deputy Mayor of GVMC, K Dorabbayee said that as the water levels in Raiwada, Thatipudi, Yeleru and Mehadrigedda Reservoirs are at their lowest with only about ten to fifteen percent availability of storage capacity available to them at the present, the supply of water on alternative days has been resorted to avoiding drinking water crisis in future. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he said that the city was receiving 50mgd which includes 28mgd from Godavari, 13mgd from Thadipudi Reservoir and of the 50mgd , 10mgd was being supplied to industrial needs, while the remaining 40mgd water was being supplied to meet the water needs of the city. The alternative supply of one hour would ensure that the available water resources could be used till April end.
The Deputy Mayor said that the daily water supply could be restored if the city received a few spells of rain in between. He felt that the suggestions being made in some quarters that instead of alternative days supply for an hour, the supply could be made daily for half an hour were not feasible. Line discharges and wastage could be minimized if water was given for one hour at a stretch. He said the demand for drinking water has increased after the merger of 32 villages in GVMC. It would go up further with the population of the city projected to reach 30 lakhs by 2020 due to large-scale migration because of the proposed petro corridor complex and IT hubs.
Dorabbayee said the GVMC had proposed Rs.14 crores for repair of bore wells and public taps under the Summer Action Plan. The approval of the State Government was awaited in this regard. He said Detailed Project Reports were sought for a laying of a pipe line for bringing Godavari water to the city with about Rs.1,000 crores and for the Raiwada pipeline with Rs.200 crores to meet the future water needs of the city. He said de-silting at Mudasorlova Reservoir it had to be taken up by the Irrigation Department.