Water ATMs plan shelved

​Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has shelved its grandiose plan to set up water ATMs, which proposed to provide drinking water at Re 1 per litre.

The scheme was originally conceived by the present GHMC B Janardhan Reddy when he was the managing director of HMWS&SB. On an experimental basis a few ATMs were installed under the Secunderabad Cantonment Board limits and couple of other places which were found to be useful to quench the thirst of people particularly during summer time.

The Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) in collaboration with a few NGOs set up 5 water ATMs at Bowenpally, Lal Bazar, Tadbund, Balamrai and Bolarum. The water board had also set up two drinking water vending centres in slum areas near Indira Park and Karmika Nagar. Further plan was to set up 200 such centres and hand over the maintenance to the Self Help Groups.

The water ATMs came as a big relief to the citizens for clean water was available at Re 1 a litre against the branded mineral water of Rs 20 a litre. Yet, the water board has now decided to discard the plan as it feels that it was a difficult process to set up the units and maintain them.

The water board officials said that no such scheme would be executed in near future as drinking water supplies have been proven sufficient.

“The scheme was introduced as water scarcity persisted for the last two years. With sufficient drinking water being supplied directly to every individual’s home, there is no need for such a scheme,” officials said.