Krishna water, a panacea for Hindupur water woes

Hindupur (Anantapur): The Rs 194 crore drinking water scheme and the Rs 66 crore infrastructure development and the town beautification project now under execution on a fast track basis is turning out to be a game changer for MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna as the water scheme is said to be a solution for the more than 3 decades old drinking water problem faced by the people.

Until recently, people were discontented with the MLA Balakrishna for not being available to them and failing to address their age-old drinking water problem which was even represented to Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, when he first became their MLA in 1983. 

Realising ground realities and responding to people’s water woes, the actor and MLA has applied his mind on the age-old water woes of the people and got a water scheme sanctioned by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for Rs 194 crore and also another Rs 66 crore for giving a face-lift to the town. Until recently, there was dissatisfaction against the MLA for neglecting his constituency.

The town had been experiencing acute drinking water problem for decades, but no MLA could address it as the town is devoid of a drinking water supply source until the Krishna water came to Gollapalle reservoir, from where pipelines are being laid to Hindupur on a fast track basis. 

The town has been depending on tankers for water transportation as borewells dried down due to depletion of groundwater levels. In the past, efforts were made to bring Penna Ahobilam Balancing Reservoir (PABR) water to Hindupur but in vain as there was always poor supply to PABR dam from the Tungabhadra canal, water could not be supplied to Hindupur. Presently, out of the required 15 Million Litres a Day (MLD), only 5 MLD was available to meet the drinking water requirements of the town.

Municipal Commissioner Mallikarjun told The Hans India that the town with a population of 1.5 lakh and 38 municipal wards has 17,000 tap connections. A target to increase 2,000 tap connections in 100 days has been fixed to ensure that every house in the town has a tap connection. The town requires 12 MLD of water every day but it is allotted 35 MLD of water per day from Gollapalle reservoir. 

Already 85 per cent of pipeline works have been completed and the water scheme is all set for inauguration before the election notification is issued in February. Hindupur town is getting a facelift with the laying of new roads with the Rs 66 crore for town beautification released recently.