Hyderabad: Water-starved residents in several parts of the city will get no relief even with the commissioning of the Krishna Phase III project.
Several colonies in Qutbullapur, Alwal, Moula Ali, Uppal, Kapra, Kukatpally, Malkajgiri and LB Nagar face water scarcity, some colonies receive water once in five to seven days.
The Krishna-III water project is expected to bring 90 million gallons of water a day to the capital by March 2015. But these colonies will not benefit as they do not have an internal distribution network.
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Admitting that there was a problem, Water Board director (operations) G. Rameshwar Rao said, “These areas receive water once in five to seven days as the same loop line is used to supply water to each area each day. We are working on setting up pipelines and pumpsets in a phased manner to supply water every three days.”
As against the demand of about 450 MGD, the Water Board is now able to supply about 340 MGD. The situation is no different in the city’s IT hub at Hitec City; here too there is no internal network of water pipelines. At Madhapur and surrounding areas, residents get water supply only once in three days, and the gap increases to five days in summer. The residents of Rajendranagar are luckier; internal water supply lines are being laid in the area.
A Water Board official said, “New colonies that have come up in the surrounding municipalities without access to distribution lines will have to wait until pipelines are laid.” He said that the Board was looking to lay water pipelines in Uppal, Qutbullapur and Alwal first.
“We require Rs 3,195 crore to lay the distribution network in all surrounding municipalities. We will be submitting proposals for funding under Central schemes,” added the official.
Residents want Water Board to check tanker Mafias:
Residents of the fringe areas of the city, who receive water through tankers, want the Water Board to streamline the system so that they do not fall prey to tanker mafias charging exorbitantly.
“We are charged as high as Rs 3,000 for 5,000 litres of water. The private suppliers know that people living here don’t get proper supply from city Water Board,” said S. Madhusudan Rao, a resident of Alwal. Dried up borewells also force people to buy water from private suppliers.
