Jalpally water tank construction at snail's pace

Jalpally: Anticipating another hot summer ahead, the officials from Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewage Board (HMWSSB) began taking stock of the works of under construction water tanks at the City's outskirts, especially in Jalpally municipality where the water crisis has deepened due to the ever-growing population.

Spread across 30 square kilometers, the Jalpally municipality lies at the edge of the City and has a population of over 1.12 lakh across 28 different wards. Considered as one of the densely populated and extremely backward Urban Local Body (ULB), the civic body has a total of five water tanks in areas such as Jalpally, Sriram Colony, Wadi-e-Mustafa, Errakunta and Bismillah Colony, from where the water is supplied to some of the colonies.

Though a few colonies under Jalpally municipality are getting tap water through Mission Bhagiratha project, most of the habitation remains dependent on the ground water. Taking into consideration the need for more water-storage facilities under the municipality's limits, the HMWSSB has approved construction of two more water tanks– one of a 60 lakh litre capacity at Bodigutta and another of 30 lakh litres at Pahadi Shareef area.

However, going by the pace of the work, especially at Bodigutta, it is hard to believe that the project will get into shape before summer. Though the project with an estimated cost of Rs 7.40 crore was inaugurated on March 17 this year, the works remain incomplete due to lack of funds, if officials are to be believed.

"Almost 30 per cent of the work has already been done and the remaining will be completed before March or April next year. Upon completion, the project will ensure water supply to at least 15 of the 28 wards in the municipality and will considerably address the water scarcity issue in Jalpally," claimed officials.

Meanwhile, HMWSSB chief general manager (CGM) Amarender Reddy, along with a team of officials visited the under-construction water tank at Bodigutta in Kothapet Village of Balapur mandal on Wednesday and took the local officials to task for the slow pace of works.

Though the huge tank is being constructed on a hilly area, there are no proper approach roads to allow the material to reach the site. The material is being transported through a narrow and serpentine passage amid the houses, which could turn dangerous if the heavy load vehicles lose their balance.

Apart from this, there are frequent reports of encroachments over the four acres of land allotted to HMWSSB, for setting up a maintenance office besides construction of a huge water tank. While officials have been keeping busy in construction work, the scraping activities using machines by land sharks were found conveniently moving right down the hill that could turn the place more vulnerable to calamities and accidents.

The annoyed CGM reportedly instructed the officials to ensure a safe passage to the construction site to avoid any inconvenience for transportation of the material and asked them to expedite the works.