Hyderabad: Fed up of the long wait to get drinking water supply from the distribution network of the Water Board, 1,500 families living in 40-odd apartments in Shilpa Park, near Hitec City, have come together to contribute 30 per cent of the Rs 50 lakh that is needed to lay an underground water pipeline network inside their colony.
A majority of the families have been living in the colony for 10 years and have been buying drinking water from private agencies.
Every family spends a minimum of Rs 12,000 a year to buy just drinking water, which the municipal corporation should be supplying since that is what citizens pay taxes for.
“Even now, we continue to buy water cans from private agencies because though the water lines have been laid, the Water Board is yet to give connections to apartments from the main line. It will take a few more months,” said Meena Rathod, a software professional and resident of Shilpa Park.
“It is the duty of the state government to provide water supply infrastructure, but after waiting for more than 10 years, we decided to contribute 30 per cent of the cost,” Shilpa Park Welfare Association president K. Radhaswamy said.
Some, however, think this is the right thing to do. “Why should the government alone bear the financial burden? As responsible citizens, we have to contribute towards sharing the cost for laying water distribution infrastructure,” said T.B.R. Prakash, a businessman.
Jagruti Colony, Lakshmi Gayatri Enclave, Krushi Nagar, Sarojini Naidu Nagar and Friends Colony are the other colonies that have contributed 30 per cent of the cost of laying pipelines.
Some other colonies in Cyberabad that have also agreed to pay a similar amount to get water will have to wait longer, because there simply is no water.
“Though we are ready to contribute 30 per cent cost, the Water Board officials said they are not in a position to supply water to us,” said Vasireddy Suman of Golden Tulip Colony.
Water Board deputy general manager Harunakar Reddy said that the water reservoir in Madhapur has a capacity of just 5 million litres.
“A large number of colonies that are not covered by the water supply distribution network will have to wait until the water storage infrastructure is improved and new reservoirs are built,” he said.
