Telangana has ordered a comprehensive drinking-water mitigation plan for Hyderabad’s core urban region as officials prepare for the anticipated impact of El Niño, with agencies directed to strengthen contingency measures, promote judicious water use and expand the use of treated sewage water for non-domestic purposes.
Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju chaired a review meeting at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat on Tuesday following directions from the Chief Minister. The meeting examined drinking-water preparedness in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the Core Area covered by the Core Municipal Corporation and the surrounding municipal jurisdictions identified in the report as GHMC, CMC and MMC.
Special Chief Secretary Dana Kishore, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board Managing Director K Ashok Reddy, commissioners of GHMC, MMC and Serilingampally Municipal Corporation, and officials from the Irrigation and Mission Bhageeratha departments attended the meeting, according to a report by Deccan Chronicle.
Jaju directed the officials to formulate a comprehensive mitigation plan for the urban region. The plan is intended to address preparedness for drinking-water supply in the event of conditions associated with the anticipated El Niño impact. The report did not specify the volume of water expected to be available, the duration of the proposed contingency measures or a detailed implementation timeline.
The Chief Secretary also ordered an intensive campaign to promote judicious water use. The campaign is expected to encourage the use of STP-treated water for non-domestic purposes and plantation activities, separating those uses from drinking-water requirements. The direction places wastewater treatment and reuse within the government’s immediate preparedness strategy, although the report does not provide details on the number of treatment plants, their current capacity or the areas that would receive treated water.
The meeting also focused on ensuring an adequate and uninterrupted drinking-water supply to the Core Urban Region, or CURE. Jaju directed officials to prepare robust contingency plans and ensure that adequate funds are available to implement the required measures. The funding sources, allocation amounts and responsible departments for individual interventions were not detailed in the report.
The review brings together the agencies responsible for municipal administration, water supply, irrigation and the Mission Bhageeratha programme. That coordination is significant for implementation because the preparedness exercise covers both the water utility and multiple urban local bodies. It also indicates that the response is being organised at the level of the wider urban region rather than by a single municipal agency.
The next steps identified in the meeting are the preparation of the mitigation plan, the launch of the water-use campaign and the arrangement of funds for the proposed measures. Officials are expected to use these measures to maintain drinking-water supply across the CURE area as preparations continue for the anticipated El Niño impact.
