Hyderabad: Hyderabad In-charge Minister Ponnam Prabhakar urged citizens to adopt Rainwater harvesting to conserve groundwater and secure the city’s future water needs. He said protecting every drop of water was a social responsibility and called for greater public participation in water conservation.
The Minister addressed a rainwater harvesting awareness programme organised by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) at Osmania University’s Saifabad Science College on Saturday. He inaugurated a rainwater harvesting injection point, harvesting pits and harvesting borewells on the campus. He also planted saplings and administered a pledge to conserve rainwater and protect groundwater.
Ponnam said the college had become a model institution by promoting rainwater conservation alongside education. He said every sector depended on water. He urged people to ensure that rainwater seeped into the ground instead of flowing into drains.
The Minister said Hyderabad’s rocky terrain and the expansion of cement roads had reduced the natural recharge of groundwater. Therefore, he urged every household and institution to install soak pits and rainwater harvesting systems. He also recalled that Hyderabad had a long tradition of water conservation through lakes built during the Nizam era.
Rainwater harvesting key to groundwater conservation
The Minister said rainwater harvesting systems had become mandatory for building approvals in Hyderabad from 2016. According to him, the daily demand for water tankers in the city had increased from around 4,000 to 12,000 in recent days. Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 to 4,000 borewells in Hyderabad had already dried up. He said installing rainwater harvesting injection points in such borewells could help recharge groundwater. Although the government was promoting these systems, he urged citizens to treat water conservation as their social responsibility.
Ponnam said Hyderabad continued to receive drinking water from the Krishna, Godavari, Nagarjuna Sagar, Singur, Manjira and Yellampalli projects while balancing the needs of farmers. However, he said rainwater conservation remained the only long-term solution to meet future demand.
Moreover, the Minister said the State had launched a large-scale rainwater harvesting campaign on October 2, 2024. Telangana currently ranked second in the country in implementing the programme. He said the government aimed to secure the top position soon.
Accordingly, Ponnam announced that rainwater harvesting pits would soon become mandatory at ministers’ residences, government offices and the State Legislative Assembly. He urged every family to encourage relatives and friends to install the systems. The Minister also said the government was promoting an electric vehicle policy to reduce pollution in Hyderabad. It was also encouraging tree plantation by providing a sapling with every vehicle purchase.
MLC Addanki Dayakar, Munnuru Kapu Corporation Chairman Bomma Sriram Chakravarthy, GHMC Commissioner R.V. Karnan, Hyderabad District Collector Priyanka Ala, HMWS&SB Managing Director Ashok Reddy, the Saifabad Science College Principal, public representatives, officials, faculty members and students attended the programme.