The Hindu 04.09.2014
GHMC’s shoddy work irks water board
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The water level at the Himayatsagar reservoir touched 1,754.700 feet due
to good rainfall in the past one week.– PHOTO: By Arrangement -
‘It is the duty of the civic body to maintain storm-water drains’
Heavy rainfall in the past one week has allayed fears of
not having enough drinking water among officials of the Hyderabad
Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), but it has left
them displeased with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC)
for the way they dealt with the overflowing rainwater in the city.
A
senior HMWSSB official, on condition of anonymity, pointed out that
every time it rains heavily, GHMC workers open manholes so that water
does not remain on roads. “On doing that, the surplus rainwater then
fills up the sewerage, due to which backwater levels increase and enter
homes,” he lamented.
The official said that it was
the duty of the civic body to maintain storm-water drains across the
city that are supposed to contain excess or overflowing water. “Our
nalas are being used as storm-water drains, even though they are present
at several places in the core areas of the city,” he explained.
The
civic body’s action, said the HMWSSB official, was due to improper
maintenance of the storm-water drains. “I understand that it takes a lot
of money to complete the task in the entire city, but it’s their
responsibility to maintain the functioning of the drains so that water
does not overflow on the streets,” he said.
The
official, however, was happy with the fact that heavy rainfall increased
the current water levels in the Himayatsagar and Osmansagar reservoirs,
which he said would at least last till next March. As on Wednesday, the
water level in the Himayatsagar reservoir reached 1754.700 feet,
against its full reservoir level (FTL) of 1,763.500 feet. The Osmansagar
reservoir has water up to 1,771.700 feet.
