Barkas and Pahadishareef residents facing trouble due to scarcity of water, appeal to HMWSSB for more supply of water / water-tankers.
The gradual rise in temperatures due to the approaching summer is making the residents of Barkas and Pahadishareef break into a sweat.
The hapless residents, rich and poor alike, have their own share of troubles because of non-availability of water. While the well-off residents calculate the amount they would have to spend to get the water-tanker supply, the poor calculate the number of trips they would have to make to bring pots of water home.
Even before the arrival of mid-February, the few taps installed along the roadside of quite a few localities, are running dry. For now, the residents are meeting their water requirements by purchasing the priceless commodity.
If the residents choose to purchase water in a tanker, it is not economically feasible, as a potful of water would cost them about Rs. 20, since the tanker is available at Rs. 600.
A majority of the residents in areas like Sadat Colony, Ali Nagar, Minar Colony, Huda Colony and adjoining areas cannot afford to purchase water, and thus are forced to queue up on the roadside and wait for the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) water-tankers. Some residents who cannot afford to wait endlessly, prefer walking to distant locations to fetch their ‘pail of water.’
Speaking to INN, one of the residents of Ali Nagar, Najam Ali, rues, “Water scarcity has become a grave problem in the Pahadishareef and Barkas areas. We have to trek upto five kilometers to fetch water. We do get tankers, but we have to pay for them. Now the price of one potful water has gradually increased to Rs. 20.” Najam Ali went on, “For the past two months, I have been getting water from these tankers, but the increasing expenditure might soon become a financial burden.”
Ironically, these localities fall under Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy's constituency.
“Frequent incidences of water shortage have become the bane of Barkas and Pahadeshareef residents. The residents complain, but the authorities, instead of evolving long-term solutions, resort to makeshift arrangements every time pressure builds up to resolve the complaints,’’ added Ali.
The local authorities contend that they are trying their best to mitigate the suffering of the people, but also admit that they cannot meet the water requirements of the people at the latter's doorsteps.
Ali says, “If such situations continue, the residents of Barkas and Pahadeshareef areas will face a torrid time this summer, when the need of water is felt more acutely.”
Courtesy: INN