Toxic water adds to Hyderabad’s summer misery

HYDERABAD: Summer comes along with its myriad issues and civic authorities, known for their lethargy, are allegedly paying no attention to key issues faced by denizens. Even as the city is facing acute drinking water shortage, it is said that officials of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) are not responding to complaints of short supply of drinking water and supply of contaminated water from all corners of the city.

Despite repeated requests, the authorities are allegedly not waking up to reality quickly enough. For instance, the manager of Fateh Khan Bazaar in Chanchalguda division is yet to respond to a complaint about contaminated water supply in the area three days ago, raised by Naveed Khan via Twitter. Local residents claimed the issue had been persistent for more than a week, while K. Naveen, manager, engineering, Chanchalguda section, HMWS&SB, said he was not aware of any such complaint.

One of the most common issues in the city is bad odour that comes with the water. Residents of Chandanwadi in Goshamahal complain of bad smell and dirt in drinking water. “This has been the case for several years now,” said U. Nomula, a homemaker. Similarly, Rajesh Koule, a resident of Ferozguda in Bowenpally, said despite the water board officials inspecting the place more than 15 days ago, the issue of sewerage water contaminating drinking water was yet to be resolved. This had been going on for around two months now, he complained.
Maqbool Khan, a resident of Karmika Nagar in Yousufguda, said the officials had been postponing the replacement of a new pipeline in his area due to lack of funds.

“Over 50 houses have been severely affected due to the contamination with direct injection of sewerage in drinking water pipes. The authorities cited lack of funds for the delay.”