HMWSSB water kiosks lie defunct across Hyderabad as summer peaks

Several water kiosks set up by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to provide free drinking water during summer are lying defunct across the city, with some being used as storage spaces by sanitation workers due to lack of maintenance.

Hyderabad: As summer peaks, denizens can hardly look for succour and quench their thirst at the water kiosks set up at busy locations by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB).

Several of these water kiosks set up at busy locations of the city are just lying defunct. In some places, these kiosks, meant to provide drinking water in hot summer, are repurposed as storage spaces by GHMC sanitation workers, with some being used to store broomsticks and other sweeping material.

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The water board had launched these water kiosks in 2024 and set up dispensing machines, each supplied with 5,000–10,000 litres, to help citizens quench their thirst during hot summer.

In Punjagutta, the water board’s kiosks do not have water and the iron-grilled kiosk is used to keep luggage by sanitation workers. Another water kiosk in front of Indo-American Cancer Hospital on Banjara Hills-KBR Park is also defunct. A few sanitation workers are using the kiosk as storeroom for their sweeping material. The water dispensing machine is completely rusted due to a lack of maintenance.

Water Board officials set up 200 kiosks, each costing around Rs 1.20 lakh, at key traffic junctions and busy public places such as bus stands, railway stations, rythu bazars and densely populated areas, with the aim of supplying chilled and purified water through self-service vending machines, free of cost. These vending machines were to have their own water supply network to provide an uninterrupted supply in the summer season, an official explained.

On why these kiosks were not being maintained properly and help the citizens, the official said after several NGOs opened free water camps in the city and they were catering for the need. The availability of Rs 10 PET bottles in the market is also cited as one of the reasons that discouraged the kiosks.

As of now, there is no proposal to revive the water kiosks and supply tankers to NGOs that are setting up free water camps in the city, said the official.