Hyderabad: Rajendra Singh, popularly known as the Waterman of India on Wednesday wrote to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and requested him to refrain from repealing the GO 111 that is meant to prohibit constructions such as residential complexes and other public spaces within the 10 kilometer radius of the twin reservoirs.
Rajendra Singh is a prominent conversationalist and environmentalist and has won the prestigious Magsaysay Award in 2001 and the Stockholm Water Prize in 2015.
“Surprised to hear that #Telangana which hosted National Convention on #Rivers on 26,Feb is resorting to revoke #GO111/1996 which was intended to protect catchment areas of #Himayatsagar #Osmansagar. This is against Law & Nature. Request Sri @TelanganaCMO to refrain from doing it,” he said on Twitter.
The Osman Sagar and the Himayat Sagar remain major sources of drinking water for the twin cities. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) currently draw 30 million gallons of water from the two reservoirs on a daily basis.
Replying to a query in the state Assmebly, the chief minister had said that the GO was issued to cater to the drinking water needs of the people living in the Greater Hyderabad region, but now there was no need for it. He said that the state government had overcome the issues with drinking water and had since created adequate alternate water resources.
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