The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has decided to take up a 90-day special action drive to construct 16,000 recharge pits to augment groundwater storage in the city and up to ORR limits.

Managing Director K. Ashok Reddy on Friday informed that the plan is a direction from Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and is being supervised by Hyderabad district in-charge Minister Ponnam Prabhakar.

He along with executive director Mayank Mittal addressed voluntary organisations working in water conservation area and chalked out a collaborative plan.

In this scheme, in the first week, NGOs and organisations are tasked to identify suitable areas in the city for construction of recharge pits – injection wells, unused borewells, and rainwater harvesting pits for residential properties and apartment complexes.

Following identification, a public awareness campaign is conducted in residential colonies to explain about rainwater harvesting pits, injection wells, and methods to convert defunct borewell into injection borewells.

The campaign ‘Intiko Inkudu Guntha’ is a planned approach to augment groundwater resources and gradually reduce residents’ dependence on water tankers for daily needs, particularly in the summer season, officials said.

Mr. Mittal informed that the 16,000 new recharge pits will be photographed, geo-tagged, uploaded in a special mobile application and can be monitored on a dashboard to check progress and maintenance from time to time.