Singur Draining Set from December 1

Hyderabad: The government has decided to carry out urgent repairs by deciding to start draining the Singur reservoir, one of the lifelines supplying drinking water to Hyderabad, from December 1; otherwise the dam may face catastrophic failure. The project also provides irrigation water to Mission Bhagiratha and some areas.

The seven-member technical committee, formed on November 15 to recommend prospective measures for dam repair, on Saturday recommended that water release begin from December 1. The water level in the reservoir will be consumed 30 cm every day until it reaches 517.8 meters.

It was learned that the decision to reduce the water level was taken by the irrigation department after the technical committee headed by irrigation department ENC (general) Md Amjad Hussain inspected the dam on Saturday.

Once the water level reaches 517.8 metres, the committee will conduct another inspection to take a call on whether further water depletion is required to carry out repairs.

The irrigation department had earlier recommended that the water level be reduced to 510.6 meters as per the recommendation of the state Dam Safety Review Panel (DSRP) for much-needed urgent repairs to the dam and its embankments to save the dam from a potential catastrophic failure.

The DSRP panel had in June declared the condition of Singur dam as Category-II (major deficiencies requiring immediate remedial measures) and listed a number of serious problems such as severe lining damage on the 796-metre-long upstream slope, longitudinal cracks and erosion exposing the embankment of the reservoir, which consequently eroded, among many others.

Singur supplies 6.96 tmc ft of drinking water to Hyderabad city and also provides 5.7 tmc ft of water for Mission Bhagiratha scheme, which previously served combined Nizamabad and Medak districts. Reducing water storage in Singur is expected to affect agriculture in 65,000 acres, of which 40,000 acres are Singur and 25,000 acres are Ghanpur anicut.