People take to the streets protesting water board’s apathy.
Representational image
Hyderabad: The city is suffering from a serious water crisis. Miyapur, Madinaguda, Lingampally, Chandnagar, Gachibowli, Nallagandla, Taranagar and Hafizpet haven’t received water for 10 to 15 days. On Friday, locals staged a dharna in front of the Haifezpet Metro Water Works division office, brandishing empty vessels. Local resident Nitin Kumar said, “Earlier the supply was once in four-five days, later it became eight-10 days. Now it has been over 15 days since we received water. Should we survive on supply twice a month? Also, the water pressure, when it comes, is very weak and for a short duration. We are spending Rs 1,000 every second day on tankers.”
Ms N. Divya of Lingampally added, “The least the Water Board can do is inform the residents or make alternative arrangements; only after the protest were tankers provided.” Earlier these areas were served by the Manjeera scheme. After the reservoir dried up, water is being supplied from the Krishna Phase 3. Mr Santhosh Kumar of Rajnagar, Borabanda, which is supplied from the Godavari project, said, “There is no water supply since four days. The water that was coming earlier was reddish in colour. There are elders and infants living in our area who can’t consume this water. Please restore the water lines and supply as per regular timings.” On Friday 12 tankers were deployed to Chandanagar, HUDA Colony, Vemkunta, Taranagar, Subhashnagar, Bhikshapathi Enclave and Suraksha Colony. About 50 free tanker trips were provided.
Water samples sent for testing to IPM:
When the water supply was resumed at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital by Thursday, the water quality was doubtful. A senior doctor at the hospital said, “The water which we are receiving is turbid and red. There might be some infection causing bacteria in the water. The surgical tools are washed with the water before sterilisation and doctors wash their hands with this water after operating. There is a chance that bacteria might cause infections in patients’ eyes, which will complicate matters more for them. As of now, for emergency surgeries we are using saline from bottles instead of tap water.”
The hospital has sent water samples for testing to the Institute of Preventive Medicine and the results are expected to arrive by Monday. The hospital is planning to install water purifiers soon so that the turbid water can be cleaned. The doctor said, “While the red colour due to mud can be removed through purification, we need confirmation from IPM that there are no infection causing bacteria in the water.”
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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