Daily water supply remains a distant dream in some parts of Warangal due to leakages

Warangal: People living in the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC), mainly the poor living in the slums, are suffering a lot due to non-availability of the potable drinking water, thanks to the utter negligence of the Public Health and Municipal Engineering Department and the water supply wing of the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) in […]

Warangal: People living in the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC), mainly the poor living in the slums, are suffering a lot due to non-availability of the potable drinking water, thanks to the utter negligence of the Public Health and Municipal Engineering Department and the water supply wing of the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) in arresting the leakages in the water supply network system.

It is learnt that there is a leakage in the pipelines for every one km in some parts of the city. Though the officials of the GWMC claim that they were plugging 20 to 30 leaks on an average every day, a Deputy Executive Engineer (DyEE) of the Public Health Department. Srinath Reddy, said that asking the number of leakages is a ‘childish’ question as they could not calculate the leakages which happen due to different reasons.

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Speaking to ‘Telangana Today’ over phone, the DyEE, PHMED, however, said that the daily water supply would be realised in two to three months. The Public Health and Municipal Engineering Department is executing the ‘Water Supply Improvement Projects’ under the GWMC limits under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) or ‘Mission Bhagirtha’ scheme at a cost around Rs 650 crore.

A retired professor from the Srinagar Colony near Kakatiya University campus said that they could not say the timings of the water supply in their locality. “There was no water supply for the last five days,” he complained. On the other hand, a resident of Bokkalagadda locality, Chennam Madhu said that the road had been dug up five days ago to arrest the leakage near house and left the mound of earth in the middle of the road causing huge trouble to the road users.

“At least four motorists have fallen off their vehicles due to this obstruction on the road,” he said. Meanwhile, many people complained that they were getting the muddy water due to leakages in the pipelines. “The drinking water is mixing with the sewage/sullage pipeline in some areas,” said a resident of Naimnagar.

Meanwhile, an official said that a total of 3367 leakages had been identified in the city. “Nearly 600 leakages are to be arrested,” he said, and promised that they would complete the leakage arresting works in 10 days.

“Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) minister KT Rama Rao launched daily water supply by unveiling a plaque at Rampur village under GWMC limits April 12, 2021. But unfortunately, the GWMC and PHMED have completely failed to fulfill his promise due to their negligence.

As poor quality pipelines were laid, the water leakages have become a routine thing,” said Dr Suresh Devath, the founder president of Society for Public Welfare and Initiative (SPWI). He alleged that the ‘corruption’ in the execution of the project is leading to chaos.

According to the GWMC authorities, the comprehensive water project was built at a cost of Rs 1589.37 crore, and is designed to meet the drinking water demand of the city residents till 2048. Nearly 1600 km new pipelines were laid as a part of the scheme.

The GWMC is drawing 171.28 million litres (MLD) water per day from Waddepally, Kakatiya University Campus (KUC), and Deshaipet filter beds. The main source of water supply is from Dharmasagar Storage Tank, which is filled by Godavari River water through the J Chokka Rao Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme. It is said that water supply in the city has increased from just 30 MLD to 168 MLD in recent days.