Water connection still a problem?

Hafeezpet: Civilians residing in Subhash Chandra Bose Nagar of Hafeezpet have complained about having no access to Manjeera water from over a week now. The local leaders have been providing illegal water connections to the locality from the government pipelines in Aditya Nagar.

A recent tiff between the officials of the Water Board and the local leaders caused the latter to cut off pipelines in the area, leaving the locality with no drinking water supply. The local leaders charge money from the house owners in exchange for water supply with charges up to Rs 1000 per house. Residents allege that the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) does not give proper water bills for the residences.

Venu Gopal (name changed on request), a local of Subhash Chandra Bose Nagar alleged, “We don’t have water in our area for a week. Officials from the water board have made an announcement asking us not to pay money to get illegal water supply and that they would lay pipelines for us. They asked us to pay the government for laying pipelines and collect receipts for the same. While a few of the residents got the supply, a lot of us are still waiting.”

Another resident of the area, P Latha, says that the local leaders and the official from the water board have been harassing locals to pay for illegal water connections and hopes that the government gives them legal pipelines.

“Paying the rent is difficult for us and paying for drinking water is an additional burden for a middle-class family. My husband earns Rs 10, 000. More than half of it is spent on rent and the rest is adequate to pay the remaining bills. The local leaders have support from goons in the area,” she added.