Officials prepare summer action plan to meet drinking water needs of Guntur

GMC chief Srikesh B Lathkar said that the officials assured of maintaining water levels of 10 feet within a week in the Prakasam Barrage.
Image used for representational purpose only
Image used for representational purpose only

GUNTUR: Keeping in view the scorching summer that is expected to intensify in the coming days and its accompanying drinking water crisis, officials concerned have decided to maintain sufficient water level in the Prakasam Barrage to ensure uninterrupted supply of drinking water to the residents of Guntur city. 

The Krishna Delta System officials have assured of maintaining the required water levels in the Prakasam Barrage so that the GMC can ensure drinking water supply to all the households in the city. The GMC engineering department is drawing 135 MLD of water per day, to supply drinking water to the citizens.

According to available information, the current level of water in the barrage is 6.5 feet, but it could go down further in the coming days, with water release from Nagarjuna Sagar coming to an end. The city normally draws water from the Guntur Channel, and in summer, it draws water from the Prakasam Barrage through pipeline via Mangalagiri, from which water is pumped to feed the 90 MLD filtration plant at Takkelapadu. Another 27 MLD is drawn from the summer storage tank at Sangam Jagarlamudi and 4 MLD from the Vengalayapalem reservoir.

The GMC is also considering a water scheme for Tenali by drawing another 10-15 MLD. Out of the 1,900 borewells in and around the city, almost 400 borewells have dried up and, therefore, the GMC engineering department is supplying drinking water through tankers as per the demand of the public in and around Guntur city. Ch Anjaneyulu, Venkateswarlu and other residents of Peda Palakaluru and China Palakaluru, the villages that have been merged with the GMC, said that they were facing drinking water problem. They said the GMC was supplying water through tankers but they had been asking the authority to engage more tankers to resolve the water crisis in the villages merged with the GMC.

GMC EE D Srinivasa Rao said that presently, they were in a comfortable position in the core area of Guntur city and each household was getting 135 LPCD, as per the government standards. He said that they were advising residents to use water cautiously in view of summer.

GMC SE Surendra Babu said that the civic body was drawing 135 MLD per day from Krishna river to fill the storage tanks in Guntur. According to him, the GMC has installed eight pumps to lift drinking water from the Prakasam Barrage and, of these, two are kept standby at the pumping station.

GMC chief Srikesh B Lathkar said that the officials assured of maintaining water levels of 10 feet within a week in the Prakasam Barrage.

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