TIRUMALA: Telugu Ganga will soon flow uphill to quench the thirst of Tirumala if a proposal made in this regard materialises.The world famous hill shrine is heading for a severe water crisis due to poor rainfall in the region for the second consecutive year. Gogarbham, Akasaganga, Papavinasanam, Kalyani dam, Kumaradhara and Pasupudhara twin dams are the major sources of drinking water for the hill shrine. The water level in the dams are fast depleting due lack of inflows. The water available in the dams will be sufficient till the first week of May 2012.Tirumala needs 30 lakh gallons of water a day. Hence, a proposal has been made to draw Telugu Ganga water from Tirupati to meet the requirements of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). The state government has agreed to release 6 MLD of water to Tirumala from 40 MLD of water being supplied to the Tirupati Municipal Corporation from Kandaleru reservoir. The project will be funded by the TTD.At a recent meeting in Hyderabad, endowments minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah directed the TTD officials to prepare an action plan to draw water from Tirupati to meet the drinking needs of Tirumala in the ensuing summer.The government has also instructed the TTD to envisage a comprehensive plan which caters to the water needs of Tirumala up to 2030, which can be taken up on a priority basis, says TTD chief engineer Chandrasekhara Reddy, who attend the meeting.The government has also promised to release water to Tirumala for every five or six months. The TTD has been asked to store the water in its reservoirs and use it judiciously till the release of next instalment of water. Anticipating severe water shortage due to depleting levels in the dams on the hills, the TTD is planning to impose restrictions on supply of water to hotels and cottages. It stopped supply of water to hotels recently following an oral order from the Water Works Department, which led to protests. TTD chairman Kanumuri Bapiraju intervened and resolved the issue temporarily. The TTD chairman arranged supply of water for two hours a day to hotels and cottages on the hill shrine.As part of measures to conserve water, it has been proposed to provide a single tap to each cottage and a common tap for a group of cottages. The engineering department has decided to draw all the available water in the twin dams and fill up Papavinasanam to ensure that it lasts till next summer. Further, all mutts have been asked to make their own arrangements for their water requirements. Construction of huge complexes on Tirumala will also be stopped for the time being as they need a huge quantum of water. All the departments have been asked to implement water conservation measures to overcome the crisis in the offing.
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