Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board HMWSSB

[Gudavalli]

Water Board to set up vigilance and enforcement cell soon

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) will set up an enforcement cell to crack the whip on long-standing defaulters and water thieves.

Though the Water Board has a separate police station in Goshamahal, the skeletal staff, including an inspector, has been restricted to conducting raids and seizing motors used for drawing water illegally, attending complaints on encroachments on the HMWS&SB's properties and preventing fishing in Osmanasagar and Himayatsagar. Ironically, the policemen have not registered a single case so far against persons who were using motors to tap water or defaulters. To deter defaulters, the Water Board has decided to seize movable assets under the Revenue Recovery (RR) Act, but so far the authorities just slapped 'Red Notices' and failed to attach properties.

The Water Board officials requested police to register cases against persons caught tapping water illegally, but they flatly refused the request. "In view of the peculiar situation, we have decided to set up a full-fledged vigilance & enforcement cell on the lines of the Andhra Pradesh Central Power Distribution Company ( APCPDCL) wing, which has been registering cases against persons resorting to power pilferage," a senior HMWS&SB official told TOI.

"We will put forth the proposal to set up a vigilance & enforcement cell before the chief minister, who is the chairman of the HMWS&SB, at the next board meeting," the official added.

[Gudavalli]

Land litigation wreaks havoc on Water Board

HYDERABAD: Improvement of water distribution network and implementation of sewerage master plan in the Rajendranagar circle of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation seems to be a distant dream for locals.

The Rs 314 crore mega project was taken up by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission a few years ago.

However, the project's main work like construction of a sewerage treatment plant (STP) at Mir Alam has not even begun due to land acquisition problems.

Though the contractor of the joint venture project MEIL-BRCCPL-AIPPL is ready to execute the work, the authorities could not complete the acquisition process. The project has been proposed in five zones of Rajendranagar circle which includes construction of ground level storage reservoir (GLSR) of 23 million litres (ML) at places like Budwel (two), Golden Heights, Shastripuram and Suleman Nagar, trunk mains, sub mains, lateral sewers and construction of STPs at Attapur and Mir Alam.

The trunk mains and sub-mains have to be laid for about 25 kms, but so far only 18 kms were laid. Similarly, lateral sewer lines should be completed for 178 kms, but only 146 kms was completed.

Construction of GLSRs at various places and other works are likely to be completed by December, 2013.

The delay in completing the water supply and sewerage network issue came up during the district review committee meeting of the Rangareddy district a month ago along with the sewerage master plan for the Serilingampally circle.

HMWS&SB managing director J Shyamala Rao said, "The Serilingampally sewerage master plan, being taken up at a cost of Rs 200 crore, is getting delayed due to an ongoing vigilance probe into the master plan work, while the Rajendranagar works would be completed by 2013-end."