Untrammeled urbanisation has put paid to many water bodies in Hyderabad. The latest victims are the Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs. These human-made lakes have supplied the bulk of the city's water needs for nearly eight decades. In 2002, Hyderabad received about 45 million gallons of water each day from Himayatsagar and Osmansagar. But last year, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board could not draw any water from them. Osmansagar dried up by February, while waters lasted in Himayatsagar only till June. In fact if a study by Venkateshwar Rao and Srinivas Rao