Blame it on public representatives or government agencies, but residents in several colonies in Bandlaguda, two kilometres from Chandrayangutta, continue to face water shortage – a fate which is common in many impoverished neighbourhoods in the city and its fringe areas.
Around 8,000 families live in Ghousenagar, Noorinagar, Mohammadnagar, Ismailnagar, Milatnagar and Jahangirabad, which form Bandlaguda area. Although, it has been over 10 years since the localities became densely populated, residents say they still face problems in getting adequate water.
“We buy water supplied through government tankers every four to five days a week. The tanker drivers collect Rs. 10 per barrel and every family collects three to four barrels of water from the tankers. A family of five persons spends around Rs. 500 just per month for water,” says Shahzadi Begum, a homemaker.
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The HMWS&SB authorities have constructed a big water tank in a remote corner of Ghousenagar, but for some reason, the domestic supply line has not been extended to households.
The water tankers ferry water from the facility to six to seven localities every day. “A majority of the local population are daily wagers. On the day the tankers are scheduled to arrive, they either bunk work or go late. Both ways, they lose wages,” Zarina Khatoon, a resident of Ghousenagar, explains.
A few locals point out that some certain builders are diverting the water tankers to construction sites by bribing local officials and leaders. “They get water on a phone call, while we have to make rounds of the local leaders offices and beg for water tanker,” another woman said.
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