Owing to the delay in plugging leaks in the newly laid pipelines by HMWSSB (Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board), several residents of the Old City still continue to face water shortage.
Initially, the water board official had assured that by the end of April, there would be a proper supply of water. However, with May coming to an end, there is still no sign of any improvement in the supply.
“Places like Shaheen Nagar, Hafiz baba Nagar, Salala Barkas, Errakunta, Jalpally, parts of Azampura and Aljabri colony are worst hit by the water crisis. This has been a problem for the past five months. The water supply is highly irregular and the water board has been delaying the work. Nearly 50% of the Old City is facing a crisis,” said Amjed Ullah Khan, Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) leader and a resident of Old City.
The residents complain that water tankers are being provided once in three days, which often leads to rush.
“There will a huge rush when the tanker comes. People wait for hours to get enough water for four days. We are tired of the promises made by officials. First they said, the work will be over my mid-March then it got delayed till April end. Now this month is about to end in a few days. The whole of the summer season, we have been facing these issues,” said Yousuf Khan of Salala Barkas area of the Old City.
“We are spending more than Rs.1000 a month on water cans. The borewell water which we use for household purposes, has also dried up. We are getting water once in four days, how are we supposed to manage?” said Mohammed Habeeb, from Chandrayangutta.
Meanwhile HMWSSB has said the reason for delay was due to leakage in a few pipelines in the area.
“We have replaced some of the pipelines, however, there was leakage in a few joints of some pipelines. We were supposed to supply the water by end of April, but due to these small issues, the work has been delayed,” General Manager of HMWSSB, Nagender Kumar told The News Minute.
The Water Board has been receiving several complaints every day, and claims that officials have been inspecting the area on a daily basis.
“The work is nearly completed. Once all these leakage issues are resolved, the residents will get supply every alternate day,” he added.
According to the official, on Monday, the Water Board will conduct a trial run.
“If everything goes fine, then we will start supply by end of this week,” he added.