The State government then had issued circulars strictly prohibiting use of bore water for supply to villages, the official said.

Hyderabad: Despite the provision of supplying surface water under Mission Bhagiratha, the State government had begun to supply bore well water in villages defeating the very purpose of ensuring supply of treated and safe water to households.

Under Mission Bhagiratha, water is sourced from major rivers or reservoirs fed by the rivers. The raw water is treated at nearby water treatment plants and the same is pumped to the major Over Head Storage Reservoirs (OHSR) and sumps at the highest points. The water is then supplied through secondary pipeline network to all the habitations by gravity.

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However, since last few weeks, bore water was being drawn and pumped into the OHSRs. Given the depleting ground water table in the State, water has to be drawn from deep and such water would have high fluoride, chlorine and other impurities, said an official from Mission Bhagiratha department.

This was being done in sharp contrast to the last summer’s practice. The State government then had issued circulars strictly prohibiting use of bore water for supply to villages, the official said.

Since water was now being arranged from borewells, the operation and maintenance agencies, which otherwise had to be cautious over the supply mechanism, were now bit relaxed. More so, the practice was leading to wastage of water in the villages as many tend to use them for livestock needs, besides draining down into gutters.

However, the department higher officials claim that bore well water was being arranged only as a contingency plan to meet any emergency requirements.

In case of any pump sets repairs or pipeline leakages, it takes some time to fix the issues but water supply cannot be compromised. Hence, bore water was being utilized, said Mission Bhagiratha Engineer-in-Chief Krupakar Reddy.

Bore water was not being used in areas like Munugode, parts of Khammam and Mahabubnagar, which have fluoride issues. Further, the water samples were being checked thoroughly in all the villages. To this effect, about 13,000 chlorine tests kits were distributed to Village Secretary’s for conducting the tests. Senior engineers monitor the water testing on a daily basis in all gram panchayats, he said.