Biochemical terror threat to Krishna water supply system

Special Protection Force to protect it

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

The Krishna water supply pipeline, water treatment plant and pump houses that supply drinking water to Hyderabad, will now be guarded by the Special Protection ForceThe decision was taken following the warning issued by the state police and intelligence agencies that the pipeline could be blown up by the terrorists or Maoists and there is also a possibility of poisoning the water with biochemical agents. Thirty guards will form an SPF team to protect the water treatment plant and pump houses. The guard would be guarding the pipeline at key points from Nalgonda to Hyderabad. The Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board director (technical), Mr M. Satyanarayana said: “We have asked for SPF protection since we have big installations for water treatment that are worth around Rs 1,000 crore. It can be an easy target for not only the terrorists but also other agents.” The main treatment plant is at Kodandapur near Akkampalli balancing reservoir in Nalgonda district. The pipel ine from the plant to the city is 116 km. Storage reservoirs of total 90 million litres per day capacity are installed at Kodandapur, Nasarlapally, Godakondla, Gungal and Sahebnagar“Intelligence inputs suggest that the water could be poisoned with chemical agents,” a senior official saidEarlier, it was decided that the SPF would be deployed at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). But due to increased threat perception, the state government is likely to rope in the National Security Guard to protect the Tirumala temple. “So the demand for the personnel has come down. It will now be easy to give cover to the Krishna water supply pipeline and systems,” an official said.