Hyderabad gets Water Plus tag

Hyderabad: The City of Pearls has got the coveted 'Water Plus' status. The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has certified Hyderabad as 'Water Plus' city under the Swachh Bharat Mission on Friday. Perhaps, the state capital has become the first city from Telangana to receive the status.

Under the Mission, a city, ward, circle, or zone can be declared as 'Water Plus' provided all waste water released from households, commercial establishments, drains, and other sources is treated to a satisfactory level (as per the Central Pollution Control Board norms), before releasing into the environment. Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao took to twitter to congratulate the citizens of Hyderabad on the city getting the 'Water Plus' status of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

"Hyderabad is already recognised as ODF++ city. We will continue to endeavour to make it cleaner & greener," he tweeted. ODF++ certification is given to cities which are 100 per cent open defecation free with proper maintenance of toilets by ensuring basic facilities like water and cleanliness by connecting to sewer networks with solid and liquid waste management and visually clean toilets.

Officials said that the efforts made by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) which maintains 25 sewage treatment plants (STPs) and three more STPs, maintained by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), resulted in good results in water management.

Before discharging the treated wastewater, the water in all these STPs is maintained to a satisfactory level. The Water Plus certification is awarded after a corporation ensures minimum 25 per cent reuse of treated water in existing STPs for various purposes. The treated STP water will be reused in parks, construction of roads, public toilets, agriculture, other construction and cleaning activities etc. It is majorly utilised for agriculture needs downstream of River Musi. The Government is focused on water conservation and reuse of waste water as part of achieving the sustainable development goals on clean water and sanitation in the State.