Musi water at 3,000 a tanker

​Hyderabad: The failure of the water board to provide potable water to the denizens in various parts of the city has resulted in water mafia trading in water from all possible sources including straight from Musi.

In effect this means that the consumers who are buying water from these private tanker operators are spending Rs 3,000 per tanker to buy diseases.

The traders when asked simply say that they are serving the public by supplying tankers since the water board had failed to supply water.

The private water sellers have dug about 20 bore wells on the banks of Musi River and have been supplying hundreds of water tankers for both domestic and commercial purposes at the cost of Rs 3,000.

If someone questions their illegal trade, they even don’t hesitate to threaten and claim that the authorities can do nothing since they were paying them their ‘mamool’.

When The Hans India visited this place, Singh a water supply owner took strong objection and argued with them as to why they were trying to probe into the water trade. He even threatened The Hans team with dire consequences.

He questioned why photos were being clicked and even threatened to beat up the team. Singh first said that they were supplying water for both domestic and commercial purposes but later said that the Musi water was being supplied only for commercial purposes like construction activities.

Calling it a ‘service to society’, he said that he would not have run such business if Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage could supply drinking water and tankers to residents and commercial buildings on a regular basis.

He said that the private water suppliers have been serving the public and collecting service charges. “What’s wrong in it,” he questioned.

Similarly, there were six bore wells in Masanwadi ghat, five in Chaderghat and two bore wells in Nehru Nagar. The remaining bore wells were in the areas including Kachiguda Kamela and Nawab Saheb Khad.

The scores of illegal bore wells resulted in depleting the ground water levels from 50 feet to 300 feet. Mohammad Asim, a resident of Golnaka said due to illegal bore well digging, the ground water level has dipped from mere 50 feet to 300 hundred feet.

He said that the local residents have tried to stop the illegal water selling but they were threatened by the suppliers. "It is the duty of revenue officials to curtail the water mafia. We cannot confront them and risk our lives", he said.

When queried about the issue, Himayathnagar Mandal Revenue Officer CH Venkateshwarlu said that there were court cases pending against four water suppliers. The MRO said action would be initiated on the illegal water suppliers with immediate effect.

By:Maddy Deekshith