The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Fewer complaints, lesser tanker trips for HMWSSB

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Saturday, Dec 13, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Fewer complaints, lesser tanker trips for HMWSSB

J.S. Ifthekhar

Water on daily basis for more consumers in city

At present 3,86,300 connections out of 4,08,132 are getting daily water supply
Daily supply still a problem in a few pockets of Banjara Hills, Borabanda, Motinagar

Hyderabad: It is slowly getting stabilised. More and more consumers in the twin cities are getting the elixir of life on a daily basis.

Pit taps are getting phased out with water pressure improving by the day. Fewer complaints and lesser tanker trips.

Euphoria. That describes the mood at the Hyderabad Water Supply and Sewerage Board. Short of patting itself on the back, the Board officials are quite elated at their ‘achievement’. Some of them are quite bewildered that they could extend daily water supply to 90 per cent of the core city area in less than a month.

At present 3, 86, 300 connections out of 4,08, 132 are getting daily supplies. This includes 24,000 connections in L.B. Nagar and 10,000 in Kukatpally. A total of 320 mgd is trickling down the taps now.

The biggest challenge the Board faced in ensuring daily supply is the staff ‘mind set’. None was prepared to believe that water could be supplied daily.

“Everybody had given up hopes of resuming daily supplies after a gap of 24 years. We changed the mind set and that is half the battle won,” said Board managing director, G. Asok Kumar.

Of course all this means increased work load for the staff. The linemen now have to open and close the valves everyday for different areas and the higher officials have to keep a close watch. The Board has written to the government for filling up vacancies.

About 120 Assistant Engineers are being recruited through APPSC. The Board’s area of operations has gone up from 168 sq. km to 700 sq. km necessitating more manpower. It is proposed to engage a consultancy agency to study the staff pattern.

There are still some pockets in Banjara Hills, Borabanda, Motinagar in Kukatpally where daily supply is still a problem. However, a bigger relief to the consumers is the riddance from odd timings. Not long ago residents used to collect water from midnight to the early hours of morning. Now the supply timings are more orderly - 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“Re-routing of water has helped a great deal,” says Mr. Asok Kumar. After commissioning of Ring Main II, at least 25 mgd of Manjeera water is being diverted to augment supplies in other areas. Also use of boosters and pumping operations has come down resulting in substantial savings in power bill.

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