Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K T Rama Rao today launched the government's much-publicised free drinking water scheme for the people residing in the GHMC area, fulfilling a promise his TRS party had made to the people of the city during the GHMC elections this year.
The minister, accompanied by TRS bigwigs Mahmood Ali and Talasani Srinivas Yadav, and Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, attended a program to launch the scheme in the city's Rahmat Nagar area.
"In keeping with its promises, the TRS government has taken several steps to ensure that the city faces no water paucity issues till about 2048. As part of this, we have also launched the free drinking water scheme under which households whose water consumption is below 20,000 litres per month will no longer have to pay any water bills. This program will benefit about 9 lakh families in the GHMC area - 97% of the poor and middle-class families living in the city. This is the start of a golden era for Hyderabad," the minister said.
"To further ensure water security for the city, we have also directed the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to divert water from the Godavari and Krishna rivers to provide drinking water to the city," he added.
Rao praised the efforts of the officials involved in working towards the implementation of the scheme, and also expressed his appreciation for the TRS government, saying that it had not stopped investing in welfare programs for the people of the state despite facing huge economic setbacks due to the ongoing pandemic.
The TRS in general, and KTR specifically, have been heavily involved in dealing with the city's water supply issues in the past few months. The minister even held a
series of meetings to expedite the implementation of the free drinking water program.