TELANGANA DRINKING WATER SUPPLY PROJECT : VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAO

TELANGANA DRINKING WATER SUPPLY PROJECT

 VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAO

The Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project, also known as water grid, one of the prestigious flagship programmes of the State government, has turned out to be a role model for the entire nation. Several State Governments like Bihar, UP and West Bengal evinced keen interest in replicating water grid. The Centre advised the other State governments in the country to study the Telangana model and emulate it in their respective States. Union Minister Chowdhary Birendra Singh appreciated the water grid project of Telangana and said that it was a role model for other States in the country.

A delegation from Government of West Bengal visited Hyderabad for understanding Water Grid Scheme and complemented the concept and progress of implementation. Later the team headed by Bengal Water Board Chief Engineer had been to Singoor in Medak District and studied the works pertaining to intake wells and the process of water purification. They expressed the hope that on the lines of Telangana Drinking Water Project Chief Minister West Bengal will also take up a similar project in their state. Not only from West Bengal but also from few more states the scheme has received praise, prominent among being that of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Minister for Panchayat Raj KT Rama Rao on the request of UP CM Akhilesh Yadav visited Lucknow and in detail explained the need, concept, and evolution and implementation strategy of the project. Akhilesh had all praise for the project and publicly announced the state’s intention to take up similar project.

The objective of the project is to provide safe and sustainable drinking water at household level at the defined and approved norms such that the people especially women need not spend time to go to the streets for collection of water from public stand posts or tankers. In addition the project also envisages providing water to industries to the extent possible through the same project to promote industrial growth and socio-economic development.

At the time the project was conceived, as per the available information then, 23% of the habitations are covered fully with 40 LPCD of supply, 70% of the habitations are partially covered and balance 7% are quality affected habitations. Against this background, Government prioritized provision of potable water which is the basic need of the people, through tapped water supply to each house hold in the rural and urban areas.  Government designed the ambitious ‘Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project’ with an outlay of Rs. 40,000 Crores to ensure water supply to all rural, urban and industrial areas in 9 districts other than Hyderabad and its surrounding habitats with in ORR.

The Goals of the project are to supply 100 LPCD to all rural Habitations, 135 LPCD to all Municipalities and Nagar Palikas, 150 LPCD to all Municipal Corporations besides water to Industrial areas at an extent 0f 10% of total demand and complete the project in three years.

Water drawl sources are Krishna and Godavari Rivers. 19.65 TMC is planned to be drawn from Krishna River and its tributaries and reservoirs namely Srisailam Project Back Water, Krishna, Tail Pond, AKBR and Paliar Reservoir. 19.62 TMC is planned to be drawn from Godavari River and its tributaries and reservoirs namely Singoor Dam, Lower Maner Dam, MMD, Godavari River, SRSP, Kadem Project, Yellampally and Komarambeem Project. In addition it is also planned to tap 3 TMC of water directly from HMWS&SB Yellampally line. Thus total Water Drawl would amount to 42.27 TMC. In tune with this Government accorded water drawl permission for 39.272 TMC from Krishna Basin (19.6 TMC) and Godavari Basin (19.67 TMC). Further permission to construct the required intake structures and Electrical sub stations at the project locations as well as allocation of required land has also been given.

An amount of Rs 4000 Crores is provided in the budget during 2015-2016 for implementation of the Grid. HUDCO approved a loan amount Rs. 2500 Crores for the same financial year and in principle agreed to sanction an amount Rs. 10, 000 Crores in the following three to four years. In addition NABARD also in principle agreed to sanction loan amount Rs. 2500 Crores.

For implementation of the project, State Government accorded administrative sanction for an amount Rs. 105.00 Crores for taking up detailed survey, preparation of estimates and office setup. Subsequently, administrative sanction was accorded for Rs. 1787.63 Crores for construction of Intake structures and allied works in Medak, Adilabad, Warangal, Khammam, Nizamabad, Mahaboobnagar and Karimnagar districts. Further administrative sanction was accorded for an amount Rs. 34568 Crores for transmission system in 9 districts. Thus the total amount sanctioned till date for works is Rs. 36355.68 Crores for 26 segments.

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE PROJECT: The project is divided into 26 segments with a 30 Years Design period catering to 98 Assembly Constituencies, 427 Mandals and 64 Municipalities and Corporations covering a rural population of 2,20,16,5901 and urban population of 53,31,231 as per the 2011 census. Its main grid consists of 4434 Kilometers, sub grid 44466 Kilometers and distribution network 38,510 Kilometers. There would be 50 Water Treatment Plants of 3181 MLD capacity and 17 intake structures. Power requirement would be of the order of 181. 16MW. Project period is for 3 years.

The pipeline has to be laid in the private land wherever there is not enough corridors is available within the ROW of concerned roads department. Relevant Act has been brought in to provide for the acquisition of right of user in land for laying pipelines. For the required power supply concerned companies were requested to expedite the establishment of substations. Further about 12,301 service crossings are required which includes National Highways (537), R&B (4006), PR roads (6863), Railways (226) and Canal Crossings (669). The details are submitted to concerned departments and were requested to accord permissions. PR department accorded blanket permission for laying the pipelines along their road and crossings. In addition 226 Railway crossings have been identified where the proposed pipeline has to cross the railway lines.  For 220 crossing the necessary fee is paid and online application was submitted and joint inspection also completed.  

It is required to construct various structures and hence Government and Private lands are to be acquired. Nearly 662.19 acres of Government land and assigned land of 44.50 acres and private land of 166.62 acres is required for construction of structures such as Intake wells, SS tanks, Water treatment plants, sumps, OHBRs etc., District Collectors are requested to expedite the LA process. Nearly 368.70 hectares of forest land is required for construction of structures and laying pipeline in forest areas. Government proposed Centralized Compensatory land for afforestation. All the District Collectors are requested to expedite the NOC and coordinate with the District Forest Officials for clearance of forest land for laying of pipeline and construction of structures.

            Interestingly, the inspiration to the Telangana water grid comes from a similar project conceived and executed by KCR himself in Siddipet, when he was the MLA of the same constituency. The Siddipet Drinking Water Project, which took shape in 1996-97, cost Rs 60 Crores. It involved lifting water from Lower Maner Dam and supplying it to every household in about 180 villages in Siddipet constituency. The successful implementation of this project is a testimony to the vision and foresight of the Chief Minister.

A separate corporation “Telangana Drinking Water Supply Corporation” with Chief Minister as its Chairman and Minister Panchayatiraj and Information Technology as its Vice Chairman has been set up to oversee the execution and maintenance of the project and to pool funds from various sources. Rural Water Supply department, initiated recruitment of required staff for the project. For providing the right of way to the project, comprehensive land acquisition act has been promulgated. District collectors were appointed as authorities to complete the acquisition process in transparent and glitch-free way.

The State government is using latest technology for the project. Advanced Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology is utilized for a detailed survey of the Water Grid. Use of Hydraulic modeling software for determining the size of water pipelines, pumping capacity and height to which water would be pumped is envisaged.