Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has notified a helpline number at 0891-2869127 for the interest of those who intend to lodge a complaint related to drinking water during the coming summer.
A dedicated team has been constituted to take up repair works on an urgent basis, said GVMC Commissioner G. Lakshmisha.
The team would be available round the clock, and will respond to complaints within 30 minutes. The problem would be rectified within three to six hours, he said.
The GVMC has approved ₹5.71 crore for the summer water action plan this year as part of which it would take up 77 works. A sum of ₹3.13 crore will be spent for drilling of new bore wells, ₹79 lakh will be spent for repairs to pipelines. Around ₹74 lakh will be spent on hiring water tankers.
“There are 8,224 borewells in the urban body limits. In addition to these, another 225 borewells were proposed in all the eight zones. Also, 39 additional water tankers to the existing 21 tankers will take up close to 160 trips per day to meet the water requirements in merged areas of Anakapalle and Bheemunipatnam regions, apart from the hillock areas,” Mr. Lakshmisha said.
He also said that special focus is being laid on the areas which generally report drinking water shortage issues, especially hillock regions.
Better water levels
Mr. Lakshmisha said that at present, almost all the reservoirs and water bodies that supply drinking water to the GVMC areas are having sufficient water. The Yeleru reservoir, which meets 60% of the city’s water needs, has 80.79 feet of water, up from 79 feet at this time last year. The Thatipudi reservoir’s water level stands at 194.5 feet, which during the same period last year stood at 183 feet. The Meghadrigedda reservoir’s water level stands at 56 feet, which during the same period last year stood at 53 feet.
Chief Engineer Ravi Krishna Raju and Superintendent of Water Supply Department K.V.N. Ravi were present.
