Water scarcity at IT hub

Kondapur: Water shortage is not today's problem in the city. Several posh and mid-segment colonies including IT corridor in West Hyderabad dotted with high-end gated communities face the crisis from time to time. Hence, residents here now depend on water tankers whenever there is a shortage.

On an average, one has to shell Rs 5,000 a month for water tankers service. Similar crisis is faced by the residents of Kondapur. This shortage has affected water supply to IT companies and colonies in Gachibowli, Madhapur, Kondapur and Kothaguda suburbs.

Regularly almost 300 water tankers are booked by these localities and with over 400 deliveries are still pending, it shows the grim situation of water availability here. The worst part is even though the residents are willing to pay exorbitant price to the tanker operators, not many are willing to supply. They prefer supplying to the corporate companies over domestic consumers because the companies book in bulk and pay much more than what the residents offer.

“Like most other apartments our complex also depends entirely on private tankers because the bore wells have dried up completely. Our monthly maintenance charge that was about Rs. 1,000 until recently has gone up by another Rs. 600 now because of the immense water crisis. But even after such an expense the tanker operators make us wait for at least two days. I wonder how long we can live here with limited water supply,” says Praneeth, an IT professional residing in Ayyappa Society.

Gotham, a resident of Chanda Naik Nagar in Madhapur, says that he has been spending Rs. 1,000 a month on water cans due to the shortage of drinking water. “For the past three days, there has been no sign of water. My weekend goes in stocking up three or four cans from the shops so that I can survive for a week. I do not get time during the week as I have work. I have given so many complaints to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) but they keep saying that the problem will resolved soon,” says Rahul Singh , a IT professional.

“Another problem that plagues residents is the incessant digging of bore wells in the area during summer. Due to this, the groundwater level has also come down. ‘We are aware that the groundwater level is reducing. Firstly it is drying up because of the heat. Secondly, it is being overused. We have been sending nearly 300 water tankers to those areas every week. There are residential colonies where residents have now installed additional borewells to meet the daily water needs. This has resulted in further trickling down of the water level, ultimately drying up the wells.

On one hand, where water mafias are taking undue advantage of the situation, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board claims to send 50 water tankers to Kukatpally alone. During peak summers, the demand for water tankers goes up to 150 per day.” says Samrat, who has an apartment in the area and who has been suffering with this issue for three years.

Though there are many localities across the city that are witnessing the shortage but most of these are in the western quadrant where rampant construction activities have hampered the natural source of water supply. Dammaiguda, Old Bowenpally, Karkhana, Miyapur, Hafizpet, Lingampalli, Chandanagar, Yousufguda and KPHB are few of these areas where the water shortage has been regularly reported. Gachibowli and Madhapur are some of the posh pockets where people are dependent on water tankers constantly.