The heavy rains have yet again paved way for the Himayat Sagar reservoir gates to get opened. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) opened two gates on Tuesday after water levels kept rising in the artificial lake.
The rains that killed several people last night remain the causative factor for the move. The water level at Himayat Sagar was recorded at 1,763.15 feet at 11 am compared to the FTL that stands at 1,763.50 feet. There were reports last night of the board planning to open the gates by 10 am today. The inflow was recorded at 2,000 cusecs by 11 am.
Many people, including a new bride, her husband, a techie, a 70-year-old woman, two young girls and others were washed away by the rains that rattled the state, reminding its capital of last year’s harsh rains.
Hence, people living in low-lying and downstream areas have been alerted by the police, HMWS&SB, the Revenue department and the GHMC. The water department also issued a red alert soon after the water level reached 1,762.75 feet. The gates were opened after the number touched 1,763 feet.
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A similar situation was witnessed last month when seven floodgates of the reservoir were opened due to the heavy influx of rains in just 3 days. The Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD) principal secretary, Arvind Kumar, along with HMWS&SB managing director, M Dana Kishore had visited both the reservoirs back then to review the water level rise.
The water was discharged in a phased manner by opening floodgates. The water was initially at 1,400 cusecs and increased by 400 cusecs. The water level was recorded at 1,762 feet, one foot short of its FTL.
The HMWS&SB draws around 14 million gallons of water from the Osman and Himayat Sagar water reservoirs to attend to Hyderabad’s water demand. The body had planned to draw more water from them as the levels rose.
The water was drained into the Musi river after 5 gates were lifted. As the inflow of water had reduced, two gates were closed, leaving only one gate open.
At Osman Sagar, the water levels reached 1,786 feet compared to its FTL that stands at 1,790 feet. The reservoir has a greater capacity than Himayat Sagar with 3.90 TMC. The water then had reached 3.008 TMC. All the gates of the reservoir were opened after a decade but later closed.
