Water Crisis Stares At Hyderabad? RTI Reveals City Used 5.89 Lakh Tankers From Water Board This Summer

Hyderabad may be looking towards an impending water crisis. As per an RTI filed by a city-based activist, water tankers from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) made 3,99,044 trips to domestic households and apartments between March 1 and July 15 while 1,90,145 trips were made to commercial establishments.

“This proves the idea of officials that the city is water sufficient wrong. The summers are only going to get worse if we don’t change our ways,” Sai Teja, head of Social Media and Public Relations, at the Forum Against Corruption (FAC), told The News Minute.

With 24,052 trips, the tankers made the most number of domestic trips to NTR Nagar in Hyderabad. According to the data, Madhapur too saw several trips between March and July. One circle of the HMWSSB saw 22,960 trips while another circle saw 23,433 trips.

Erragadda saw 22,100 trips, while 19,741 trips were made to Banjara Hills. At 20,051, the most number of trips to commercial establishments were made to Jubilee Hills. Besides this, 15,479 domestic trips were made.

“All these areas are affluent ones and they may likely be wasting a lot of water. If the amount of water wasted across the city each day were to be quantified, it would be huge. The government says rainwater harvesting is mandatory, but the implementation is weak,” Teja said.

HMWSSB drew water from storage points set up across the city and distributed via tankers. Private tanks operating in the city charge more than the HMWSSB but see a lot of demand, especially in May and June.

According to the RTI, HMWSSB made Rs 6,74,27,509 from its domestic trips. From commercial trips, it made Rs 10,96,42,196.

“We don’t know where the HMWSSB has spent the money. We often see sewage leaking or pipeline bursts. Officials need to do a lot of repairs but we can’t see much developmental work being taken upon the ground. If they divert even a part of the money earned from tankers into this, it will benefit the HMWSSB and the citizen,” Teja said.

In July this year, Hyderabad was close to a water crisis with water levels in Nagarjunasagar reservoir (River Krishna) and the Yellampally reservoir (River Godavari) dropping steeply.

HMWSSB said that at a certain point, around 23,000 requests for tankers were pending. The demand for tankers, at that time, was attributed by officials to rainfall deficit and depleting groundwater.

Also Read: 1,900 Villages In Karnataka Facing Drought; Water Scarcity Is Slowly Crippling The State