GVMC officials allay fears of water crisis in summer

Visakhapatnam: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation(GVMC) officials said that there were sufficient quantities of water in all the reservoirs to cater to the requirements of denizens during summer.

The GVMC was planning to implement Rs 3 crore worth summer action plan to provide enough water with a total of 113 tankers and another additional 22 water tankers in those areas where there was low pressure, said GVMC Commissioner M Hari Narayanan, while speaking to The Hans India here on Sunday.  

He also added that the usual water supply of 16-65 Million Gallons of water used per Day(MGD) for bulk users and 49 MGD for domestic users would be continued.

While talking about the water level in reservoirs, he said that the present water level in Raiwada (110.29mt), Tatipudi (287ft) and Mehgadrigedda (52.02ft) reservoirs and the Godavari(12.70mt) were sufficient and would easily last from July to December. Also, necessary arrangements are being done for pumping water from Yeleru (74.37mt).

On the other hand, residents of Madhurawada area alleged that the ground water level has fallen drastically and the GVMC had failed to provide enough water during the last week in their area by showing the cause as the Gosthani Reservoir drying up, said Beta Rama Rao a retired VPT employee and a resident of Madhurawada.

Elaborating on this, the Commissioner said that to overcome all such problems, the GVMC officials held a review meeting with the Chief Secretary for charging water from Tatipudi. The officials also urged  Vizianagaram District Collector to instruct the Executive Engineer, Irrigation Department to release 50 cusecs of water from Thatipudi Reservoir after an interval of 20 days. 

The GVMC officials said the present water levels at Mudasarlova (157 feet) and Gambhiram (110 feet) water reservoirs, which were also supplying water to people were drying up but added that that there was no need to worry as it accounted only for one per cent of the total supply in the city. 
He also added the officials were trying to reduce the time delivery of water supply under the project ‘Dial a tanker’ to provide relief to residents of gated community and apartments to those who also depend on ground water.

The Municipal Commissioner urged the citizens to pay their taxes by using various facilities like Pura-Seva app from any android mobile application on time so that GVMC could secure funds for various infraworks including the underground drainage system for uncovered areas in the city.

By Phani Suni