Areas where the ultra-rich live are also where oases are nurtured by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB), amid a city gone bone dry.
If the latest study report by CPI(M) on water crisis is any proof, the water board is supplying 60,000 to 70,000 litres of water per month to each household in areas such as Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Madhapur and Gachibowli, while residents of other areas receive only about 15,000 litres.
A total of 175 water tankers have been allotted to Division-VI alone, comprising Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, out of 800 tankers being plied to all the 14 divisions under the water board.
Releasing the results of the State-wide study here on Saturday, the party’s State Executive Committee member D.G. Narasimha Rao alleged that the water board administration is on its toes to supply water to the VIPs on demand, even while neglecting areas such as Alwal where tanker arrives only once in 10 days. On an average, many areas get tankers once in four or five days.
Three-hundred slums and colonies in the outskirts without pipelines are getting tankers only once in two weeks, while the government has increased supply to breweries by tens of thousands of litres since January this year, he said.
The situation is worse in municipalities, towns and nagar panchayats. With Ramanpadu project drying up, Mahabubnagar is receiving water from Koilsagar, which is rationed for an hour only once in every 12 days. Jadcherla is receiving water once in 20 days, while piped supply has totally collapsed in Shadnagar. Gadwal is receiving muddy water from Jurala. Major part of Nagarkurnool is devoid of any supply.
Warangal does not have piped supply in 40 per cent areas, and tankers are coming only once in four days. Water pumped from Devadula project can suffice only for a week, after which alternative needs to be found. Janagam is receiving muddy water, while Parakala and Mahabubabad are experiencing severe water scarcity. Half of the Nizamabad municipality does not have piped water supply.
Sangareddy in Medak district is receiving water only once in five days, that too thanks to the 20 bore-wells dug into Manjeera river.
All bore-wells have dried up in Nalgonda, Miryalguda, Huzoornagar, Kodad and Suryapet, pushing the towns into a crisis of this scale for the first time since the construction of Nagarjuna Sagar project, the report noted.
The party’s State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram pointed out that the government is not taking any additional relief measures in mandals declared as drought-hit. He demanded immediate measures to supply fodder for livestock, and drinking water, and also timely payment of NREGS wages. Private tankers should be confiscated, and Rs.10 crore should be allotted per mandal.
The party is organising State-wide protests on water crisis in all towns and municipalities from April 25 to 27, he announced.
