Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) releases about 800 million litres a day (MLD) of untreated sewer water on a daily basis in to the city’s water bodies. Many of these water bodies also fail to meet water quality standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board, thanks to the continuous flow of sewage. Many of them fall below the Class-E category, which means their water is not even fit for irrigation or industrial purposes. The existing capacity of the Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) is 690 MLD out of the total 1500 MLD sewerage released every day. Even though the water board has decided to construct 10 STPs but it has remained on paper.
A water board official, on condition of anonymity, said that the untreated water from the HMWS&SB is contaminating every water body in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. “The government is busy bringing drinking water through Krishna phase I, II, III and Godavari phase I to the city, without improving the sewerage system,” he said. He felt that the government had failed miserably in making alternative plans for improving the sewerage network in the city, and added that the government should make subsequent plans for STPs when they decide to bring river water to Hyderabad.
Admitting that the HMWS&SB was responsible for contamination of water bodies in the city, the official said, “The nalas in the city have turned into sewerage carriers and the lakes have become sewerage ponds.”
He further admitted that the sewerage system in the city was a major cause for the contamination of the Musi river. “Over 50 downstream villages of the Musi River depend on the water from the river,” he said. People in these villages live in perpetual fear as they are reeling under the effect of pollutants from the Musi.
The senior official felt that the situation would worsen if the government further delayed the establishment of STPs in the city. He also expressed displeasure over the State government’s attitude towards improving the sewerage system.
With the growing needs of the city, the government should work with a vision, he said. nd requested the citizens to conserve as much water as possible. There are four STPs in the GHMC limits at Attapur, Nallacheruvu, Nagole and Amberpet.
