GO 111 Order- UPSC Current Affairs

Why in the News?

Recently, the Telangana government has withdrawn an over 25-year-old ‘Government Order (GO) 111’ which gave protection to the historic Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar reservoirs in Hyderabad.

Probable Question

In the light of ‘Government Order (GO) 111’ of Telangana, discuss the importance to preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture.

Key Points

About Government Order (GO) 111

• On March 8, 1996, the government of erstwhile (undivided) Andhra Pradesh had issued ‘Government Order (GO) 111’.
• It prohibited development or construction works in the catchment area of the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar lakes up to a radius of 10 km.
• The GO prohibited the setting up of industries, residential colonies, hotels, etc. that cause pollution. 
• The aim of the restrictions was to protect the catchment area and to keep the reservoirs pollution-free. 
  • The total catchment area covers around 1.30 lakh acres, spread over 84 villages. 
• The lakes had been supplying water to Hyderabad for nearly 70 years and were the main source of drinking water for the city at the time.

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Reasons for Withdrawal of GO 111

• Hyderabad’s drinking water requirement has increased to more than 600 million gallons per day (MGD), which is being drawn from other sources including the Krishna River; water from the two reservoirs amounts to just about 1 percent of the daily requirement.
• Thus, Hyderabad city no longer depends on these two reservoirs for water supply, and there was no need to continue with the restrictions on development in the catchment radius.

When and Why were these Reservoirs Constructed?

• The reservoirs were created by building dams on the Musi (also known as Moosa or Muchkunda) river, a major tributary of the Krishna, to protect Hyderabad from floods. 
• The proposal to build the dams came after a major flood during the reign of the sixth nizam Mahbub Ali Khan (1869-1911) in 1908, in which more than 15,000 people were killed.
• The lakes came into being during the reign of the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan (1911-48). Osman Sagar was completed in 1921, and Himayat Sagar in 1927. 

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