In a move to address the future drinking water needs of Hyderabad, the state government of Telangana has sanctioned a project at a cost of Rs 1,450 crore to draw water from Sunkishala Barrage near Nagarjunasagar reservoir.
The state government allotted Rs 725 crore for the same in the recent state budget. Once completed, the Sunkishala intake project can ensure drinking water supply to Hyderabad city even if the monsoon fails for a year.
Presently, water is being drawn from an irrigation canal of the Nagarjuna Sagar Project. This is not possible in summers when the water levels in Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir deplete below the Minimum Draw Down Level (MDDL).
During summer, water board is often forced to install emergency pumping systems at the foreshore of Nagarjunasagar at heavy cost to draw water below the MDDL.
Thus the Sunkishala intake project is planned to make possible the intake of water below MDDL without having to install emergency pumping systems, reports The New Indian Express.
Of the Rs 1,450 crore allocated for the project, about Rs 952 crore will be utilised for the construction of an intake pumping station at Sunkishala and a sum of Rs 215 crore is set aside to provide electromechanical equipment, sub-station and instrumentation works at the intake pumping station.