Hyderabad Water Board faces Rs 8,800 crore revenue deficit

The Board needs to pay pending electricity bills worth Rs 5,500 crore and previous loans of Rs 1,847 crore; Chief Minister wants action plan to overcome crisis

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) is facing a revenue deficit of Rs 8,800 crore. It needs to pay pending electricity bills worth Rs 5,500 crore and previous loans of Rs 1,847 crore. Further, different departments and government offices owed Rs 4,300 crore to the Water Board. These details were shared by the Water Board officials with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy during a meeting here on Friday.

HMWSSB Managing Director Ashok Reddy explained that the income generated by the Water Board was sufficient to pay salaries, allowances to the employees and the maintenance costs of drinking water supply. The Chief Minister observed that the board’s revenues and expenditure were not promising and hence wanted an immediate action plan to be prepared in coordination with the Finance Department to overcome the crisis.

---

He also suggested that Water Board should also explore ways to increase its income. 20,000 litres of water was already being supplied free of cost in the city, the Chief Minister said, asking the officials to collect the pending water bill dues regularly. The Water Board has also been ordered to raise required funds for new projects and explore alternatives to get loans at low interest rates. The DPRs for projects should be prepared for the purpose, he said.

The Water Board officials also explained to the Chief Minister that the pipelines that have been supplying water from River Manjeera to many areas in the city since 1965 were outdated. As a result, water supply is interrupted for about 10 to 15 days if repairs were taken up.

In reply, the Chief Minister ordered a new project to be undertaken to construct modern lines as an alternative along the existing lines. “If necessary, officials should prepare a project report to get funds through the Jal Jeevan Mission which is being implemented by the Union government,” Revanth Reddy said.

The Chief Minister ordered the Water Board officials to envisage plans for developing required infrastructure and assess future needs for the supply of safe drinking water to residents of Greater Hyderabad during the next 25 years.

He also asserted that a sewage plan should be prepared along with drinking water supply to every household and if necessary, a study should be conducted involving agencies and consultancies.

Currently, Water Board supplies drinking water from River Manjeera, Singur, Godavari, and Krishna. The meeting discussed the project designs to draw more water through Godavari Phase II and supply drinking water to Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar.

Based on the reports submitted by consultancies and in view of adequate availability of water and reasonable lifting cost, the meeting decided to draw drinking water from Mallanna Sagar.

The Chief Minister also approved to draw 20 tmc of water instead of the previously proposed 15 tmc to meet the increasing drinking water needs of the city.