more-in Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development K.T. Rama Rao said Manjeera and Singur reservoirs will be used as the source for drinking water supply to four districts as part of the Mission Bhageeratha project. In reply to a question raised by BJP legislator Chintala Ramachandra Reddy during question hour of the ongoing Legislative Assembly session on Saturday, Mr. Rama Rao said the reservoirs’ capacities have been kept in reserve to provide water for Sangareddy, Zaheerabad, Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts as part of the Telangana drinking water scheme. To the question if water from Yellampally meant for Hyderabad is being diverted to Gajwel and Siddipet town, the Minister answered in the affirmative, and said there was an existing practice of providing bulk water supply to the Rural Water Supply Department to fulfil the requirements of village panchayats and municipalities en route. The Godavari water supply scheme passes for 186 km via Bommakal in Karimnagar, and through Mallaram and Kondapaka in Siddipet district and the reservoir at Ghanpur in Medchal district, before it arrives into the city. MLA interrupted Mr. Ramachandra Reddy’s supplementary question on why the government chose not to draw from Singur, Manjeera and the twin reservoirs of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar for city’s requirements was interrupted by the ruling party members, ostensibly protesting against the time taken by the member. Mr. Rama Rao too rose to quote from the Assembly rule book, and said members need to be brief in their supplementary questions. Severely castigating the attitude of the ruling party members, Mr. Reddy however went on to say that the twin reservoirs were the most affordable source of drinking water for the city, as supply from there costs only ?4 per kilo litre. From Singur, the same costs ?15 per kilo litre, from Krishna drinking water project, ?30 per KL, while Godavari costs a whopping ?45 per KL. Two new reservoirs He questioned why the government chose to draw from the costliest source, ignoring the most affordable ones. Even while he went on to mention the core city requirements which could be met with the water from twin reservoirs, Mr.Rama Rao rose to answer the question, and said the days of displaying empty pots before the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) are over now. The government is making efforts to provide drinking water to all peripheral municipalities by June, and if rainfall is good, will go on to provide daily water supply to entire city by year end. To withstand a couple of dry years, efforts are on to build two reservoirs each with 20 TMC storage capacity. It is any government’s minimum responsibility to provide potable water to those deprived and the villages affected by Fluorosis, Mr.Rama Rao asserted, and questioned if city dwellers alone were human beings.

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