Having dealt with the Army’s diktats over closure of roads some months ago, residents of Malkajgiri are now up in arms against the Water board. The reason being the Board has dug up lanes and by-lanes to lay new pipelines.
The works are part of the Malkajgiri Drinking Water project, which is being funded by the World Bank. The scary prospect is that the work will take at least a year to finish and till then no new road will be laid.
Works on the project were initiated a few months ago by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) and ever since, the roads which have been dug up to lay new pipelines have not been fixed or repaired, residents pointed out.
D.G.N. Sarma, who stays near the Neredmet X Roads, claims that the works have damaged old water pipelines, resulting in water getting wasted due to leakage.
He added that because of that there was no water supply to his house for more than 10 days and that complaints to HMWSSB were futile. Other people in the vicinity too echoed the same complaint. Another resident, B.T. Srinivasan pointed out that many people are facing difficulty while commuting through Malkajgiri. “As the old pipeline system was damaged at several places it has resulted in drainage water contaminating the drinking water,” he added.
N. Babu Rao, a resident of Defence Colony, said that at least patch works should be done on roads where the pipelines were laid. “You cannot just leave it damaged like that for a whole year, because it will get really difficult once it starts raining,” he said.
A visit to some of the areas in Malkajgiri did indeed corroborate what the residents said as the dug up roads make it tough for vehicles to move around.
When contacted, HMWSSB officials said that once the work was done water supply will improve vastly. “Till then people will have to wait, as we have asked for roads not to be laid till the works are done,” said officials.
As the old pipeline system was damaged at several places, it resulted in drainage water contaminating the drinking water, D.G.N. Sarma,A resident
