Environmentalist Dr Lubna Sarwat urges the Governor
Dr Lubna Sarwat, a prominent environmentalist and State president of WICCI Water Resources Council, said that the government’s decision to withdraw the GO 111 issued in 1996 for the conservation of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar reservoirs, which quench the thirst of the twin cities, was wrong. She said that there is no support for this decision either legally or from the relevant experts. According to Directive Principles 48A of the State Policy, the State has the responsibility to protect and improve the environment as well as protect the forests and wildlife of the country. But she criticised that no such actions were witnessed in Telangana, especially in the case of Hyderabad’s twin reservoirs. She wrote a letter to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan in this regard.
Further, Lubna Sarwat stated that the Telangana government had issued GO 69 on April 12 this year, deleting paragraph 3 of GO 111 issued by the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government on March 8, 1996. While the GO 111 was brought to prohibit the construction of polluting industries, major hotels and residential houses within 10 km radius from the Full Tank Level (FTP) area of reservoirs, it has been revoked, which is incorrect. She explained that the GO 69 which was issued in the Governor’s name, contained false information and lacked any scientific or expert reports to favour the theory. She expressed concern that due to this, the safety of two 100-year-old reservoirs in Hyderabad city would be endangered. Lubna Sarwat stated that there is a need to protect these reservoirs which were built with the intention of preventing 1908 type floods in Hyderabad.
More details in the letter..
GO 111 was issued on the basis of the reports given by the committee formed by Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board along with a committee consisting of industrial and agricultural experts. But, no such practice was followed and a decision was taken without expert committee reports before issuing GO 69.
Upholding GO 111, the Supreme Court ordered that permissions should not be given to polluting industries in the buffer zone of 10 km radius from the twin reservoirs.
Apart from reports submitted by Dr Bhowmick on 16-8-2000 and NGRI (National Geophysical Research Institute) in June 2000, the National Environment Appellate Authority also submitted a report to the Supreme Court in favour of GO 111.
While all five scientific and expert reports supported GO 111, not a single report was submitted in support of GO 69, which removed the restrictions mentioned in this GO. The State government has not even answered the questions raised through the Right to Information Act.
As if it was not enough, false information was incorporated in GO 69 issued in the name of the Telangana Governor. “Drinking water supply capacity in Hyderabad has been increased from 145 MGD to 602 MGD. Works are being executed to increase storage and supply by an additional 344 MGD drinking water is being increased. Therefore, consumption of drinking water from these twin reservoirs has reduced to less than 1.25 percent. Henceforth, Hyderabad city need not depend on Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar reservoirs for drinking water. In this context, the State government after considering all factors has decided to remove the restrictions contained in paragraph 3 of GO 111,” the GO 69 said. But many of these issues are far from reality.
On August 19, about 56 MGD from Osman Sagar and another 29 MGD from Himayat Sagar were drawn using gravity. Even on the day of release of GO 69, 73 MGD from Osman Sagar and 24 MGD from Himayat Sagar were drawn by gravity. This is more than 5 percent of daily requirement of Hyderabad. It means that false information is embedded in GO 69.
The Kaleshwaram project, which the government announced will supply the drinking water of Hyderabad city, is facing uncertainty. Due to floods near Bhadrachalam last month, 29 pumps at Medigadda and Annaram barrages which are part of the Kaleswaram project were inundated and water could not be pumped. In this context, the government’s declaration that there is no need for the twin reservoirs that are currently quenching the thirst of the city dwellers, is definitely false.
Taking into consideration all these details, the Governor was requested to withdraw GO 69 which was issued with false information in the name of the Telangana Governor and has become a threat to the twin reservoirs.