The projects meant to secure Hyderabad’s water future, including a 20-TMC Godavari diversion and a ₹722-crore rebuild of the Manjeera network, will not be finished before the summer of 2027. The city will face what forecasters now call a very strong El Niño on its existing network. A state analysis shows that Telangana’s preparations started months after the Centre’s warning, and that its retail inflation is already the highest in India.
For three days, the story of Telangana’s failed monsoon has been about scarcity: reservoirs near empty, borewells dry at 1,000 feet, and water rationed to IIT Hyderabad and defence plants. On Tuesday, 13 October, it became a story about time. The infrastructure that is supposed to end the scarcity will not be ready when it is needed most.
According to local sources, Hyderabad will have to rely on its existing supply network through the coming summer, because none of the major new projects designed to meet rising demand will be complete. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) is building or planning three main schemes.
Three projects, none ready
- Godavari Drinking Water Supply Project, Phases II and III. The foundation stone was laid in 2025 and completion is targeted for December 2027. The scheme would divert 20 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of Godavari water from the Sripada Yellampally project: 16 TMC for drinking water and 4 TMC to revive lakes and the Musi river. About 18 km of pipeline has been laid.
- Neopolis water supply. It is intended to serve about 13 lakh people, with a ₹298-crore trunk main and pumping station under construction and a 2027 target.
- Manjeera Phases I and II refurbishment. The ₹722-crore, two-year project, still at the tender stage, would replace a transmission network built in the early 1970s along the city’s western corridor.
The board has also floated ₹50 crore of tenders for reservoirs and distribution mains for six colonies in Bandlaguda and Chandrayangutta, and a draft water master plan is under inspection.
The geography explains the vulnerability. Hyderabad sits on the Deccan plateau, far from large rivers. Godavari water travels about 180 km to the city, Krishna water 110–116 km, and Manjeera water about 60 km. The local twin reservoirs, Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar, are about 55 km of conveyance away and hold little. As NSH reported on 13 October, the Singur reservoir on the Manjeera held only about 12 per cent of capacity, and the city supplies about 585 million gallons a day against a projected demand of 735.
A stronger El Niño ahead
The national outlook has darkened. Speaking to Neo Science Hub, India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said a very strong El Niño is expected from October through December, likely peaking in late October and November. El Niño is the periodic warming of the eastern tropical Pacific that tends to suppress Indian rainfall.
Two other climate drivers offer little relief. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), the temperature difference between the western and eastern equatorial Indian Ocean, is neutral, and IMD’s model suggests it will stay neutral until December. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, a slower Pacific pattern, has been in a negative phase since about 2000; Mohapatra said this weakens the historical link between strong El Niño years and heavy northeast-monsoon rain. “IOD, El Niño, and PDO should not be assessed independently,” he said. He added that “north, west, and other parts of India will continue to bear the brunt of a Super El Nino”. Strong El Niño years also tend to steer Bay of Bengal cyclones towards Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka rather than northern Andhra Pradesh.
Short-term relief, limited reach
There is some near-term rain. The Hyderabad Meteorological Centre says conditions favour the northeast monsoon reaching Telangana between 15 and 18 October, with thunderstorms over Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad, Sangareddy and Mahabubnagar. IMD forecasts thunderstorms across the state from 15 to 19 October.
Until then the heat persists. On Tuesday Hanamkonda recorded 37.1°C, Jagtial 36.9°C and Hyderabad 35.1°C, according to Telangana Development Planning Society data reported by Deccan Chronicle. Telangana, however, receives only a modest share of its annual rainfall from the northeast monsoon, and showers cannot refill large reservoirs. On Monday, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said there were “no clear indications of significant rainfall in the state until June or July next year”, a local media reported.
Preparedness and prices
Another local report analysis argues that the state was slow to act. The Centre flagged the El Niño threat nearly six months ago, it says, but Telangana began its contingency plan only in July. On 11 October, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy ordered an action plan to June 2027 covering drinking water, irrigation, agriculture and electricity, and asked officials to treat the crisis “like the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Farm behaviour is a central problem. “Despite repeated appeals, farmers cultivated paddy on over 52 lakh acres during the Vaanakalam season,” a senior Agriculture Department official told the paper, doubting that the advice to avoid paddy in the Yasangi (rabi) season will be followed. On Tuesday the Jangaon district collector repeated the call to switch to pulses and oilseeds with micro-irrigation.
The economic signal is already visible. Telangana’s retail inflation in August was 6.27 per cent, the highest of any state, against 4.82 per cent nationally, with rural inflation at 6.79 per cent. Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh was fourth at 5.53 per cent. Food and transport costs were the main drivers. A drought that cuts local vegetable and pulse output could push prices higher.
Neighbours under strain
The pressure is regional. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, meeting Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister on Tuesday, cited El Niño-reduced Krishna inflows as Tamil Nadu sought more Telugu Ganga water. In Maharashtra, Pune will cut water supply every Thursday from 15 October so that its dams last to the end of August 2027.
What it means
The lesson is uncomfortable but clear. Large inter-basin transfers take years to build, and a single bad monsoon can arrive before them. In the meantime, Hyderabad’s resilience depends on demand management, leakage control, treated-wastewater reuse and groundwater recharge, measures that can be scaled within months.
What to watch
Whether the postponed Cabinet meeting produces drought notifications and crop-switching support; whether HMWSSB formally notifies supply cuts; and how much rain the northeast monsoon actually delivers to Telangana’s catchments.
–Rashmi Kumari
Key facts
- Projects (HMWSSB): Godavari Phases II–III, 20 TMC (16 drinking, 4 for lakes and Musi), target December 2027, 18 km laid; Neopolis, 13 lakh people, ₹298-crore trunk main, target 2027; Manjeera refurbishment ₹722 crore, tender stage.
- Distances: Godavari about 180 km; Krishna 110–116 km; Manjeera about 60 km; twin reservoirs about 55 km.
- IMD (Business Standard, 13 Oct, 21:42 IST): very strong El Niño October–December, peak late Oct–Nov; IOD neutral to December; negative PDO since about 2000.
- Weather: northeast monsoon onset in Telangana possible 15–18 Oct; thunderstorms 15–19 Oct; Hanamkonda 37.1°C on 13 Oct.
- Economy : August CPI inflation Telangana 6.27% (highest), India 4.82%; paddy on 52 lakh acres in Vaanakalam.
