Tears for water, as Hyderabad set to become twin capital

The summer season brings with it an increased demand for water. People in the city are left marooned as their demands are hardly being met. A few areas that have been added to the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) to form the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) don’t have pipelines to supply water. Despite many demands made by the people, the officials have hardly looked into the matter.

There are about 23.5 lakh houses in the city of which only 8.2 lakh houses have water connection. In the 625 square kilometres of the city, 300 square kilometres of area does not have a water supply connection. The city requires at least 460 million gallons of water a day (MGD). However, only 360 MGD is being supplied. 48 per cent of this gets wasted because of factors like leakages and illegal connections. So the city gets supplied only with 175-180 MGD.

Some 12 municipalities surrounding the city have been merged with the GHMC. And 60 per cent of the areas do not have a pipeline system. In the remaining areas which have pipelines, the water supply is erratic, leaving people in misery. The supply has been cut short to meet the increased demand in the city.

Deprived of the pipeline connections, people in these areas have become dependent on water tankers. However, this is pinching the common man as it would cost him anywhere between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 per month. The problem is prevalent in the core city too. In areas like Malkajgiri, Kapra, Alwal and Uppal, there is a severe water scarcity.

Responding to the problems, a senior Water Board official said, “The government owes Rs 800 crore to the Water Board which has an impact on the water supply in the city. In 2012, it was estimated that Rs 2,200 crore would be required for the construction of pipelines in the suburbs. In two years, the price of construction of pipelines has increased by 17 per cent, increasing the project cost to Rs 2,600 crore.”

“However, the Krishna and Godavari water supply projects under construction would supply an additional 918 million gallons of water per day to the city,” the official added. However, the project is a mirage.