HYDERABAD Projects and Updates - II

[Gudavalli]

Roads in Old City to be widened

HYDERABAD: Congested roads in the Old City will soon become a thing of the past. As many as 40 major roads and junctions in the Old City will be widened by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation by the year end.

Seven MIM MLAs, representing Assembly constituencies in the Old City, held a review meeting with Hyderabad mayor Mohd Majid Hussain and commissioner M T Krishna Babu on road widening works on Tuesday.

Briefing the media after the review meeting, mayor Mohd Majid Hussain and commissioner Krishna Babu said some road stretches like Chanchalguda-Madannapet via Saidabad and Chandrayangutta junction-Peeli Dargah-Erra Kunta-Barkas have already been taken up for expansion a few years ago, but could not be completed due to legal wrangles and religious structures. For some roads like Bahadurpura junction-Miralam junction, road development plans have been prepared and survey was done for sketches, they said. For widening roads and junction improvement works, the corporation would spend about Rs 250 crore, the commissioner said.

Incidentally, Karwan MLA Muqtada Khan assured that they would cooperate with the corporation to relocate religious structures that have become bottlenecks for widening the roads. The MLAs asked the GHMC officials to acquire properties by negotiating with owners and not by force.

"GHMC will appoint two deputy collectors for taking up legal issues for road widening and pursue with the property owners," the mayor said and added that it has been decided to hand over the cases of major bottlenecks in the city to the advocate-general so that cases would be tackled effectively.

A feasibility study would be conducted for construction of a flyover from Road 1 and 12, Banjara Hills to Masab Tank connecting Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, the mayor said. The MLAs have also asked the GHMC to take up widening of the road from Charminar to Golconda, one of the oldest roads in the Old City, and asked the commissioner to ensure widening of road near Mehdipatnam on both sides as properties were acquired and road widened only on one side of the road.

[rajeev_14012008]

Originally Posted by Gudavalli

Incidentally, Karwan MLA Muqtada Khan assured that they would cooperate with the corporation to relocate religious structures that have become bottlenecks for widening the roads

I think first remove the bottle necks from the roads that are already widened and then go for widening other roads.

[Gudavalli]

Originally Posted by rajeev_14012008

I think first remove the bottle necks from the roads that are already widened and then go for widening other roads.

I agree. Religious structures and statues must be located elsewhere to begin with. It'll be tough to convince people though.

[Naga_Solidus]

If they do build a flyover from SD Eye Hospital to Banjara Hills Rds. # 1 and #12, I presume they will put ramps at Rd #12. Also, will it become an extension of the PVNR expressway?

Originally Posted by Gudavalli

Hyderabad Airport will be connected by another expressway

Didn't it star operations back in Oct. 2009? They probably mean to say that all the ramps will be finished by then.

[Gudavalli]

Fiat to expand presence in Indian market

HYDERABAD: Italian car maker Fiat plans to increase its presence in India with a network of dedicated dealers and is also looking at introducing more brands from its global portfolio.

Launching Fiat India's first exclusive dealership in Hyderabad Wednesday, Enrico Atanasio, head-commercial, Fiat India, told reporters that they were originally planning 20 dedicated dealers during the current year but now plan to accelerate this.

Fiat, which recently ended a six-year distribution agreement with Tata Motors, plans to set up a new company to sell its models in India.

Enrico, who would head the proposed company, said through the dedicated dealers they wanted to create a real and stronger brand experience for Fiat.

"We consider India as an important market and the company to be set up in near future will leverage this potential," he said.

Fiat India, a joint venture between Italian carmaker fiat and Tata Motors limited, currently sells 20,000 cars per year, a market share of 0.7 percent.

"I expect a growing role for Fiat in India. Today we are 8 percent in European market, 18 percent in Latin America and 12 percent in USA market. There is no reason why we can't improve our current market situation (in India) which is much much lower," he said but declined to give any figures.

"Fiat is one of the best known brands in the world market because of its past. It takes time to move from past to future. We need to train strong force and have right process and people,IJ he said.

Fiat's 1100 sedan was sold in India from the mid-1950s to 1997, first as the Fiat 1100 Delight and then as the Premier Padmini. It later sold the Fiat Uno.

It currently sells the Linea, Palio and Punto models in India, and is also analyzing introduction of more brands from a portfolio which includes Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep.

Enrico claimed that there are already good signs of Fiat's performance in India with better results in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of previous year.

Fiat India's first dealership Tejaswi Motors has opened in upmarket Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.

The dealership will retail the Linea and Punto.

[Gudavalli]

Dr Agarwal's Eye Hospital enters AP

Opens 4 centres, to invest Rs 50 cr

HYDERABAD, MAY 9:
Chennai-based hospital chain Dr Agarwal's Eye Hospital entered Andhra Pradesh with the inauguration of four eye hospitals in Hyderabad on Wednesday involving an investment of Rs 30 crore.

It plans to invest another Rs 20 crore to open 10 secondary and secondary plus category eye care centres at different places in the State, including Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, and Warangal.

“Our target is to have a chain of some 30 hospitals across Andhra Pradesh in the next two to three years,” said Prof Amar Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of the Group.

It has about 13 branches in Chennai, besides centres in Villupuram, Kumbakonam, Neyveli, Pantruti, Vellore, Kanchipuram, Hosur, Erode, Salem, Madurai and Tuticorin. It has also forayed into the overseas market, establishing a tertiary eye care centre in Mauritius.

“As part of our plans in India, we are in the process of expanding into other States such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Chattisgarh,” Prof Agarwal said.

The hospital got noted on the global platform for its Micro-Phakonit surgery (cataract surgery with 0.7 mm size incision) in 1999 and Glued Intraocular Lens Implant (where the lens is glued) on a four-year girl. In 2009, it conducted the world's first Anterior Segment Eye Transplant Surgery on a four-month old child to treat corneal disorder.

In Hyderabad, its main tertiary hospital is located in Panjagutta to treat all types of eye ailments, from refraction error correction to retinal disorder and oculoplasty.

Mr Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Minister for Finance, and Dr D.L. Ravindra Reddy, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, inaugurated the hospital.

[ygvjs2000]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chann...demarcated-092
Civil, defence lands to be demarcated
First time after Independence, the extent of defence and civilian areas will be demarcated in the Secunderabad Cantonment limits through a proper survey. Experts from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad have agreed to prepare a comprehensive master plan for Secunderabad Cantonment at an estimated cost of Rs 17.53 lakh. The master plan will identify the existing road network, water, drainage and storm water lines and also prepare an inventory of existing land use and suggest a land use plan for the future. Though a master plan was prepared earlier too, it was not comprehensive. It is now being modified to cover all aspects, Secunderabad Cantonment Board chief executive officer S. Balakrishna said.

The Cantonment Board meeting on Wednesday approved the proposal for the master plan. Currently, there are only 16 “officially declared” civilian areas in the Cantonment limits that were demarcated during the British regime. Over the years, new residential colonies have mushroomed in B-2 category of the land that comprises private as well as state government-allotted patta lands. Officials said nearly 300 colonies have come up in B-2 category land and since they are not officially declared as civil areas, all building plans on these lands have to be approved by the entire Cantonment Board.

[Gudavalli]

Great job with the updates yg, much appreciated

[Gudavalli]

Hyderabad foundation gets $ 100,000 grant for polio vaccine

Hyderabad: Ella Foundation has won a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a virus against polio after the phasing out of the oral poliovirus (OPV) vaccine, the Hyderabad-based scientific research group said on Thursday.
"Such a vaccine could carry the beneficial effects of an oral polio vaccine - namely safety, efficacy, ease of manufacture, distribution and administration along with the safety profile of an injectable polio vaccine by eliminating vaccine derived polio virus (VDPV)," said a statement from Ella Foundation.
"Vaccines play a crucial role in the eradication of diseases that affect millions of lives worldwide. The grant will help us accelerate the pace of research programmes and explore new solutions in global health priority areas," said Krishna Ella, co-founder of the Ella Foundation.

GCE funds individuals worldwide to explore ideas that help solve persistent global health and development challenges. It is a $100 million initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Launched in 2008, over 600 people in 45 countries have received GCE grants.
Located in Genome Valley in Hyderabad, Ella Foundation - founded by Krishna Ella and Suchitra Ella - is an independent scientific and industrial research organisation. Set up in 2002, its research activities focus on infectious diseases.

[deepakhearthacker]

Abu Dhabi team to visit AP for refinery project

Hyderabad, May 11:

The International Petroleum Investment Company of Abu Dhabi has stated that it would depute a technical team of experts to identify suitable location for setting up a refinery in Andhra Pradesh.

During the CII Partnership Summit 2012 held in Hyderabad in January, the BR Shetty Group of Abu Dhabi had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Andhra Pradesh Government for setting up a petroleum refinery with an investment of $ 6 billion (about Rs. 30,000 crore).

During a visit of AP delegation, the company assured to follow up and depute a team.

Dr J Geetha Reddy, AP Minister of Industries, along with Mr. T.S. Appa Rao, Principal Secretary Industries and Mr Karikal Valaven, Commissioner of Industries, met Mr Khadem A. Al Qubaisi, Managing Director of International Petroleum Investment Company owned by the Abu Dhabi Government and Dr B.R. Shetty.

According to a Government statement, after detailed discussions, Mr Al Qubaisi has expressed keen interest in establishing a petroleum refinery in Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Industrial Region (PCPIR) of Andhra Pradesh coming up in the Kakinada-Vizag corridor.

[deepakhearthacker]

NVIDIA unveils new graphics processing unit

GeForce GTX 670 promises to enhance gamers computing experience and reducing power consumption.
Hyderabad, May 11:

NVIDIA has launched GeForce GTX 670, the third graphics processing unit (GPU) which promises to enhance computing experience of gamers and other high-end users.

Based on its Kepler graphics architecture, the GPU helps cut power consumption and offer 'whisper-quiet' operation for PC gamers.

For starters, GPU acts as a co-processor to accelerate CPUs (central processing units) for scientific, gaming and engineering computing. GPUs takes up the burden of of compute-intensive and time-consuming portions of the code, while leaving the rest of the applications to the CPU.

"The new product outpaces the closest competitive product in gaming performance by over 45 per cent, while consuming approximately 18 per cent less power," an NVIDIA statement said here on Friday.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 GPU is available in India for Rs 29,999.

[deepakhearthacker]

'Science in danger of regressing'

Askok Ganguly delivers 'A.V. Rama Rao Tech Award Lecture'

Rajya Sabha member and Chairman, Ananda Bazar Patrika Pvt. Ltd., Ashok Ganguly on Friday warned that science in India was in the danger of regressing due to lack of recognition to scientific achievements by society and inadequate investment in Research & Development.

Delivering the ‘A.V. Rama Rao Technology Award Lecture' to mark National Technology Day at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) here, he said a scientist in China would be paid a cash reward U.S. $ 100,000 if his work gets published in the prestigious journal,‘ Nature'. He lamented that society in India accorded greater recognition to cricket, Bollywood, politics and public disturbances than scientific research.

He also faulted the Indian industry for not investing in R & D and described it a ‘shame'. Stating that Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) as an exception, Dr. Ganguly said it was hard to name an India company which made significant investment in research. He said the Indian IT industry too gradually forgot to invest in R & D.

He said that there should be a public celebration of science and discoveries on occasions like National Technology Days. Expressing his concern over society losing its ability to be curious, he said knowledge was the soul of society. He said while the number of scientific institutions had grown enormously and there was no shortage of money or bright young people, the fact remained that the facilities were disproportionate.
Donates cash prize

Later Dr, Ganguly was presented the ‘A.V. Rama Rao Technology Award'. He, however, donated the cash prize for using towards the education of the employees of IICT.

[deepakhearthacker]

Parking meters remain unutilised

An automatic parking ticket machine installed at Abids.
The much-talked about parking meters installed in the State capital to automate the disbursement of parking tickets is proving to be futile as the vehicle-owners are not evincing any interest in utilising the facility.
One hour parking

While 15 machines were installed at Park Lane in Secunderabad, Basheerbagh and Abids, none of them are being utilised by the motorists themselves.

A four-wheeler owner can obtain a parking ticket, for one hour duration, by dropping two Rs.5 coins in the machine. Along with the vehicle number parking ticket also displays the checkout time clearly.

But due to the lack of public participation, Smart Interpark India Private Limited (SIIPL), which maintains the machines, is now forced to employ contract workers to issue the tickets. The company employs over 17 persons to man parking at Park Lane, and four each at Basheerbagh and Abids.

“As per the contract signed by our company with GHMC, we are only mandated to provide the parking space and a motorist has to go and take the parking token. But none of them preferred to do it,” Mohammed Azam, manager of SIIPL, said.

“We have educated the public in operating the machine but our efforts have been futile. If the parking meters are utilised properly the system of issuing parking tickets can be streamlined easily and can increase revenue for GHMC,” he said.

But what stops a motorist from using parking meters? Motorists are used to paying money and obtaining the tickets and so they are reluctant to walk down to the parking meters, a contract employee of SIIPL observed.

Operating a parking meter is not very difficult and anyone who has used an ATM machine can easily obtain the ticket, and if someone does not have any change we are always there to help them, he added.

[Gudavalli]

Plans afoot to widen Road No 13, Banjara Hills

HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to go for road widening on Banjara Hills, Road No.13. Officially, the purpose behind the widening is to decongest Road No.12 but the real reason is perhaps civic officials desire to provide a hassle-free ride to ministers up to their official residence, the Ministers' Quarters.

As many as 55 properties, including the residences of late chief minister NT Rama Rao and retired IAS officers VP Jauhari and Kamalanathan, would get affected in expansion drive as the breadth is increased from its present 40ft (ft) to 60ft. Also, to be affected are the houses of several industrialists and the offices of some firms, including a Sakshi group building.

Official sources said that the decision for widening has been taken with an eye to decongesting Road No. 12, Banjara Hills, a crucial stretch for those heading towards Film Nagar, Jubilee Hills, MLA Colony and other areas of Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills and Madhapur.

Heavy traffic on Road No.12 has become a major concern for ministers. The situation becomes worse when there are any agitations in front of the Ministers' quarters on Road No.12. If Road No.13 is widened, the ministers can enjoy a smooth ride right up to the main gate of their quarters and even provide commuters with an alternative to Road No.12, in the event of any traffic snarls. "Road No.13 runs parallel to Road No.12, Banjara Hills. As per the master plan, the road should be widened to 60ft. Its current width is between 30ft and 40ft. That will reduce the burden on Road No.12," GHMC chief city planner GV Raghu told TOI.

Road development plan and identification of property has just been started by GHMC. Incidentally, the collector's camp office and joint collector's bungalow have been spared likely demolition as there are religious structures close to these properties.

Several properties in a slum, which begins beyond the collector's bungalow, would also be taken over for road widening, said GHMC officials.

"Notification for acquiring properties will be issued and published in a couple of days after approval of the joint collector," a senior GHMC official said.

[deepakhearthacker]

GHMC staff calls off strike

Following the flash strike of GHMC truck drivers from Friday night, garbage clearance was affected in different parts of the city on Saturda.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Employees Union has called off its strike following successful talks between union representatives and GHMC higher officials here on Saturday.

The union called off the strike after GHMC Commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu assured its representatives that their demands will be met.
Demands

The union had launched a flash strike from Friday midnight demanding the corporation to buy 100 new vehicles for transporting garbage, repair about 150 vehicles lying in the sheds and remove ban on union activities in the newly formed seven member groups, according to Secretary Sanjay Kapoor.

Mr. Krishna Babu, informed them that the Standing Committee has already approved procurement of 50 new vehicles and taking the rest on a hire basis.
Study on problems

Standing committee recommendations will be approved by the Corporation in the meeting to be held on May 19. The Commissioner, also said that a committee will be formed soon to study the problems faced by the employees, and steps will be taken to rectify them immediately.

Mayor Majid Hussain advised the workers to give a prior notice of 14 days before going on a strike.
Jobs intact

He said, though workers have a right to go on strike, they should give prior notice to the corporation to avoid inconvenience to the public.

He also promised that the jobs of the outsourced drivers will be intact even after hiring of the new vehicles.

[deepakhearthacker]

City roads turn death trap

]

City roads turn death trap
Road accidents claim 563 lives in four months

The dance of death on the roads in and around the capital continued with 563 people killed in road accidents in the first four months of this year.

Notwithstanding the various special drives undertaken by the traffic police, and claims of better infrastructure by civic authorities, the death toll in road accidents has gone up in both Hyderabad and Cyberabad Commissionerates.
Increase in number

From 380 deaths in the first four months of 2011 in Cyberabad, the figure rose to 402 this year for the corresponding period. That meant 22 more deaths.

The statistics for Hyderabad too are no better. From 137 deaths in January, February, March and April of 2011, road accident deaths went up to 161 this year for the same period.

It translates to 24 more deaths. There is considerable rise in the total number of accidents and injured persons in Cyberabad.

Hyderabad, however, witnessed a decline under these heads.
Multiple factors

The traffic police maintain there are multiple factors that contribute to increasing road accidents.

Rash driving, number of vehicles growing each day and inadequate infrastructure are the main reasons cited by them.

“Accidents on the Outer Ring Road, which is yet to be completed, in past six months is one cause that spurted road accident deaths,” the Cyberabad Joint Commissioner, Atul Singh, in-charge of the Traffic, said on Saturday.
Special attention

He feels better co-ordination between the police and the GHMC authorities to improve road conditions would bring down accident rate. Special attention should be given to areas of Cyberabad like Ibrahimpatnam which are far away from Hyderabad. Regulation of traffic in such regions should be done with more thrust on safety, he said.
Statistics

The Hyderabad Traffic Polce Additional Commissioner C.V. Anand, said 66 pedestrians and 49 two-wheeler riders were among the 161 road accident victims in Hyderabad.

This suggests that pedestrians and two-wheeler riders are more vulnerable to accidents among other groups of road users.

Identifying these patterns, the Hyderabad Traffic Police had set a goal reducing accidents by 10 per cent this year, he said.

[Gudavalli]

Schools told to install fire safety equipment

The managements of over 1,600 schools in the city have been given ultimatums to install fire safety equipment before schools re-open in June or face closure. The fire prevention wing of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has instructed the school education department to cancel the recognition of educational institutions that do not comply with fire safety measures. Officials said there were 500 big schools each having more than 500 students. There are over 2.50 lakh students in these 500 schools and all these schools are located in non-multi-storeyed buildings.

Mr C. Lakshmi Prasad, additional director, the fire prevention wing (FPW) of GHMC, told this newspaper, “We have given almost two years to schools to install fire safety equipment. But only 500-odd schools, of the total 2,154 institutions that were served with notices, have complied. We, (GHMC fire prevention wing officials and education authorities), will jointly start inspecting the schools shortly and close down all such institutions that fail to install the prescribed fire safety measures.” The names of schools that fail to obtain the No Objection Certificates (NoCs) from FPW after providing fire safety equipment, will be posted on the website of the GHMC for the information of parents. The FPW is taking legal opinion on booking criminal cases against all such schools.

Reacting sharply, representatives from some of the school managements said nobody would want to put the lives of students at risk. “Several managements are ready to install fire safety equipment but what can they do if there is no provision or space for expanding the width of the staircase or providing an additional staircase in the school building? Besides, many schools are located on rented premises where owners have rejected pleas to make alterations for providing an additional staircase,” said a representative of an educational institution.

However, the FPW additional director Lakshmi Prasad said, “We are not going to take any excuses as two years are sufficient to install fire safety measures. Summer vacation is the best time to install fire safety material. Though we (FPW) gave a long list of equipment, it was reduced for the convenience of school managements stating they put in place at least these minimum, but crucial, life-saving measures before re-opening of schools,” he said.

[deepakhearthacker]

Application process for Fulbright-Nehru Awards begins

Mr Adam J. Grotsky (second from left), Executive Director US-India Educational Foundation, interacts with Fulbright scholars in Hyderabad on Monday.
Hyderabad, May 14:

The United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) is now accepting applications for Fulbright-Nehru awards for the academic year 2013-14.

The deadline for applications is July 16, Mr Adam J. Grotsky, Executive Director, USIEF, told newspersons here on Monday.

There are about 150 grants which will be given to scholars, professors and researchers in various disciplines.

“There is great diversity in the grants. Applicants preferring to work in areas such as public health and agricultural sciences are especially welcome,” Mr Grotsky said.

USIEF was in favour of more US professors visiting India under the programme, he added.

Hyderabad is important for USIEF in view of the presence of institutions like the University of Hyderabad, Indian School of Business and Osmania University, he added.
ORIENTATION

The USIEF is also organising a three-day orientation programme for the Indian recipients of Fulbright-Nehru and other Fulbright fellowships for 2012-13 here.

About 131 participants are being briefed on the academic, social and cultural aspects of life in the US and their roles and responsibilities as Fulbright-Nehru scholars.

“This orientation is the first step in a Fulbrighter's journey to the US,” Mr Grotsky said.

[deepakhearthacker]

HI-TECH HYDERABAD STARES AT A DROUGHT

Water was never more precious.With the city sitting on water supplies for not more than two months,even a healthy monsoon may not be able to save Hyderabad from its driest spell of the decade

Sudipta Sengupta & Sunil Mungara | TNN


Hi-Tech Hyderabad might soon have to invoke the rain gods for its next glass of water.The city has water stock for another 60 days follow ing which Hyderabad will slip into an acute drought,warn ground water offi cials The city is already reeling under an alarming 26 per cent drinking water deficit and a severely receded water-table.Its only hope now is a boun tiful monsoon.
A quick scan of some residential pockets across Hyderabad indeed paints a dehydrated picture.Not only have more than 50 per cent of bore-wells in the city already dried up,thanks to meager showers last year,but even Manjeera (drinking water) supplies have thinned drasti cally post the onset of summer.As against the regular two-hour schedule,the water board has now restricted its water supplies to just about half an hour every alternate day in most parts of Hyderabad.Chances are that this time span will be further shortened if water levels in the citys reservoirs do not improve soon.
That the already grave water crisis is only headed southwards is also obvious from the groundwater departments new ruling intro duced this year.The department has issued a complete ban on the drilling of bore-wells for all purposes apart from drinking.
Latest statistics on Hyderabads depleted water wealth points to this rude reality.The ca pacity of Osmansagar and Himayathsagar,the citys two primary drinking water sources,are abysmal.The full tank levels of both these res ervoirs,owing to a 20 per cent drop in rainfall last season,have dropped signifi cantly over the last few months with water board offi cials fear ing a near-dry situation soon.Considering that a whopping 70 per cent of Hyderabads populace depends on the inflow from here,an unhealthy monsoon is bound to spell doom for an already p a rch e d c i t y T h o u g h marginal the Krish na water too has witnessed a recession in its level thus adding to the miseries of the aam aadmi Roughly 30 per cent of denizens,largely resid ing in the peripheral areas,draw their daily drinking water supplies from Krishna,phase-I and II.The water from the Manjeera and Singur reservoirs that also contribute towards APs total requirement are largely diverted towards rural water supplies.While a drop in levels here might not be of immediate concern to Hy derabadis,the fact that the citys ground water depth too has slipped by an additional two me tres (in comparison to last year) this year is defi nitely worrisome.As per records available with the state ground water department,the water in the city has now depleted to a startling 9.63 me tres.The last time the table had receded beyond the 10 metre mark (the height equivalent to a three-storied building) was during the drought ridden period between 2003 and 2005.
The supply has predictably been unable to meet the growing demand.In 2011,the demand for water qas 459 mgd and 469 mgd in 2012 but the water board has been able to supply just about 340 mgd of wa ter since 2008.In 2013,the demand for water is ex pected to be 480 mgd.Ac cording to water board records,around 1.75 lakh custom ers who were getting water on a daily basis are now getting it on alternate days.Although the water board is supplying water for one hour,its barely a trickle in some city households.
That a chunk of the citys 87.5 lakh popula tion has resorted to packaged water this sum mer,therefore,comes as no surprise.Right from the near-dry Marredepally colonies to the nar row bylanes of the Old City to even the plush residential pockets of Jubilee Hills,Hydera badis are spending thousands of rupees every month to supplement this acute water shortage which many claim is worse than what they have seen in the past fi ve years.
Most pockets in the area (including Road No 36,10,40,41 among others) have no supply of Manjeera water, said B S Srinivasan,treasurer of the Jubilee Hills Residents Welfare Association pointing out how residents here are entirely dependent on bottled water for domestic usage.The situation is much the same at Alwal where denizens rue a poor supply once in three days.The unregulated exploitation of ground water,rampant in this area,has only made matters worse,they add.We have no choice but to completely rely on tankers now, said G V Rao,secretary of the Greater Alwal Allied Service Association that has around 29 colonies registered with it.Such grouses are voiced by Hyderabadis living even in areas such as Karkhana,Tarnaka,Kondapur,Begumpet or even far-flung Yapral.Plagued by a scanty alternate day water supply,residents from these localities complain how a hefty sum of their monthly budget is now being diverted towards quenching their thirst.Even our monthly maintenance cost for the apartment has gone up from Rs 700 to Rs 1,500 be cause of this, said Aju Thomas,a resident of Yapral.
While the locals of New Vasavi Nagar (in Karkhana) are trying hard to seek government permission to dig a few more bore-wells in the area,the exercise could well be futile.This,as the receded water table has made scarce the availability of ground water up to 1,200 feet.Until now,water in the city was not more than 500 feet below the earth.Most of the existing bore-wells here have dried up.Unless new ones are dug,its going to be a tough summer for us, said Karun Kumar,president of the colonys welfare association.
In the districts of Andhra Pradesh too the water story is much the same.Poor rains coupled with soaring mercury levels have led to the drying up of all water sources.Ground water levels in several pockets have crossed the 75 feet mark with officials of the department speculating a further dip over the next few weeks.In fact water is available at 75 feet only at select points.In most areas even after 300 feet there is no water, said a senior official of the rural water supplies wing referring to parts of Guntur district.
While experts suggest the setting up of recharge pits as a viable solution to this problem,they maintain that containing the misuse of ground water is the fi rst step towards addressing this shortage.The continuous exploitation is not allowing water levels to rise.Considering that only 2.5 per cent of the earth (largely granite) we are sitting on can hold water,such excessive use is bound to create a severe demand-supply gap, R Rangarajan,scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI),Hyderabad.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) admits that the situation is grave but feels it is too early to ring the alarm bell.While the consistent fall in the levels of the Hyderabads two major reservoirs is a matter of concern,officials feel that the forthcoming monsoon will address the issue.We are worried about the Himayathsagar and Osmansagar levels.But I think we can meet the 340 mgd demand of the city for the next two months with what is available.After that the reservoirs will get recharged with the rains, said Adhar Sinha,managing director,HMWS&SB.
(

W i t h i n p u t s f r o m M N S a m d a n i

)

WHAT THE WATER CRISIS MEANS TO YOU

THE WATER BOARD IS FACED WITH A SHORTAGE OF 10 TO 15 MILLION GALLONS OF WATER A DAY.ACCORDING TO V VISHWESWARAIAH,CHIEF GENERAL MANAGER (TRANSMISSION),SOME HARSH STEPS WILL BE TAKEN TO TACKLE THE WATER SHORTAGE IN THE COMING MONTHS: Areas getting water supply on alternate days will get it once in three days if the water crisis worsens Water supply to the industrial sector will be dropped to 60 per cent (of the total demand) In case there is no rainfall between June and August and no further inflows into Osmansagar and Himayathsagar,one to two mgd of water will be cut in each division (from the allotted quantity).Water board supplies water in 17 operation and maintenance divisions in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and surrounding GHMC circles.There will be no extra water supply to the surrounding villages of Medak,Ranga Reddy,Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda under Rural Water Supply (RWS) schemes.Currently,water board supplies water to these villages from Krishna drinking water supply phase-I and II.Tankers will be hired from private parties to supply water,in case of severe shortage




PIT FALL: Even the wells in Hyderabad have dried up this summer and depend on imported water.Seen in this picture is a well being filled with tanker water which is then pumped into apartments

[deepakhearthacker]

END OF THE ROAD

A 400-year-old building near Charminar is demolished for road widening,in the city,on Monday