Yeh paaniwala... quench thirst of parched parts across Old City

Hyderabad: Parts of Hyderabad’s Old City are already grappling with a water crisis before the onset of summer; residents say they already started rationing water, even as multiple tankers are seen making the rounds throughout the day. The public representatives staged a protest at the Circle Water Board offices, demanding water supply for their constituencies.

Though the State government promised to provide an uninterrupted supply of drinking water, areas in Old City have been facing irregular water supply for the last three months. “Water is supplied on alternate days in the evening, and the pressure has been low for more than a month. Furthermore, the supply time has been reduced to an hour from three hours every day,” complained Mohammed Ahmed, a resident of Himmatpura.

According to the residents, they do not receive water from the water pipelines, and the board's supply is irregular with low pressure. The residents requested that the board provide adequate water and increase the water pressure to fulfil their requirements. Moreover, locals and activists accused officials of a lacklustre attitude towards maintaining drinking water infrastructure in the South zone, as people's health is also taken for granted here.

It has been observed that several areas in Old City, including Hussain Alam, Ghazi Banda, Shamsheergunj, Kishan Bagh, Falaknuma, Tadban Shalibanda, Haribowli, Panch Mohalla, Himmatpura, Khilwat, Chelapura, MoosaBowli, Santosh Nagar, Saidabad, Baba Nagar, and Chandrayangutta, have been facing a drinking water shortage.

The locals stated that they have suffered greatly due to a lack of water supply in their lanes and that there is no set time for opening and closing the water supply valve. “We are forced to buy drinking water from the outside and book a water tanker as water supply is reduced in our area. Around 100 houses here are facing a scarcity of drinking water,” said Venkatesh, a resident of Lal Darwaza.

Several representations have been made to HMWSSB, but officials have not taken any action to resolve this issue.

"We are booking water tankers to meet our water requirements. Never in the past had we experienced such difficult circumstances in the locality,” lamented Siraj, a resident of Hafez Baba Nagar.

The residents pointed out that despite numerous requests to repair the available hand pumps in the area, authorities have responded ineffectively.

Recently, AIMIM Bahadurpura MLA Mohammed Mubeen led a protest at the Mir Alam water filter, demanding water supply in his constituency. He was accompanied by party corporators. The MLA sat on the floor of the DGM Mir Alam filter's office in Tadbun for an hour, demanding water supply through tankers to various localities in Bahadurpura.

Mubeen complained that HMWS&SB officials were intentionally not supplying water in certain localities and diverting water tankers to other places. The protest was called off after senior HMWS&SB officials reached the spot and assured that the issue would be resolved at the earliest.