HMWSSB to build 16,000 rainwater harvesting pits within Hyderabad ORR limits in 90 days

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) is launching a 90-day special campaign to promote rainwater harvesting, following the directive of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. The initiative, titled "One Rain Water Harvesting Pit per Home", aims to improve groundwater levels across areas within the Outer Ring Road (ORR).

As part of the plan, HMWSSB targets the construction of 16,000 rainwater harvesting pits over the next three months. Managing Director Ashok Reddy and Executive Director Mayank Mittal held a Zoom meeting with officials and NGO representatives to outline the steps for implementation.

Officials and NGOs have been asked to identify suitable locations for the pits within a week. Awareness programs will be conducted in residential colonies, gated communities, and apartment complexes to inform citizens about the benefits of rainwater harvesting.

The MD also instructed officials to locate unused borewells and submit proposals to convert them into injection borewells to aid groundwater recharge.

This initiative follows water shortages during recent summers, which led to increased reliance on tanker supply. The campaign is being implemented under the supervision of Hyderabad District In-Charge Minister Ponnam Prabhakar.

Executive Director Mayank Mittal said a mobile app is being developed to allow users to upload before-and-after photos of pit construction sites with geo-tagging. A real-time dashboard will monitor the progress of the campaign.

Officials who attended the meeting included ENC Director (Operations-2) V.L. Praveen Kumar, Project Director Sudarshan, Director (Operations-1) Amarender Reddy, CGMs, Special Officer for Rainwater Harvesting Pits Jala Satyanarayana, and NGO representatives.