Kaleshwaram to lessen Hyderabad’s water woes, stimulate growth

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government’s flagship irrigation project, Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, is expected to significantly mitigate water shortage issues in Hyderabad. The project is also likely to boost economic growth in the metropolitan region given that 16 tmcft of water will be reserved solely for industrial needs around the city once the project is completed in entirety.
Of the nearly 200 tmcft of water that will be diverted from the Godavari as part of the project, about 30 tmcft is allotted for Hyderabad.As of now, the city gets 30 tmcft of water from the Krishna and the Godavari and 440 million gallons per day (MGD) is supplied to the city.
“Kaleshwaram project is the lifeline of Hyderabad as it gives assured water supply to the metropolitan city even if the city expands up to the proposed regional ring road (RRR) and also the population of the city is doubles (touching two crore) in the future,” Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation commissioner and Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) managing director Dana Kishore told TOI. HMWS&SB has taken up construction of a reservoir at Keshavapuram village near Sharmirpet with a capacity of 10 tmcft which will receive Kaleshwaram water from Konda Pochamma Sagar Reservoir at Markook, about 30 km from the city. Similarly another reservoir of the same capacity at Devalamma Nagaram of Choutuppal is in the works.“Since the state is planning to shift industries beyond ORR, apart from villages, new industries will also be given water,” Dana Kishore said.