Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad   

Discord between civic agencies over drains

By J.S Ifthekhar

HYDERABAD Aug. 2. A storm in the nala? Yes. It is brewing ever since the Chief Minister asked the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) to take over the cleaning and maintenance of storm water drains in the city. The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, which has been doing the job all along, is none too happy with the change.

The 800 km of stinking drains, which meander through the length and breadth of the city, have now become a channel of conflict between the two agencies. The MCH, which has already done considerable desilting this year, feels the Water Board has plunged into the job without much planning. The Board blames the civic body of doing a shabby job of cleaning the drains.

Interestingly, a fortnight after the Chief Minister announced transfer of the storm water drains to the Water Board, orders in this regard are yet to be issued. This has only added to the confusion. While the MCH has adopted a "hands off" attitude towards nalas, the Water Board is concentrating only on drains in the slums. "The situation is fluid. We don't know whether we have to take care of the big nalas also. Let the Government clarify," said V. Raja Reddy, Executive Director, HMWSSB.

During the last ten days, the Board cleaned drains in 320 places, mostly in slums, where water pollution is rampant. At these places the domestic and branch sewers are let into storm water drains. Also the PPC connections are crossing the storm water drains leading to pollution. "We are trying to tackle these first," said Satyanaryana, Director (Technical).

The Board has desilted drains in over 40 slums under the sub divisions of Boats Club, Chilkalguda, Narayanguda, Amberpet and Baghlingampally. In most of the slums the water supply distribution main as well as PPCs are found running parallel to the storm water drains resulting in choking and overflow. The Board has spent Rs. 15 lakhs till July end.

Board officials deny that they were going about the job in a haphazard manner. They had charted out a programme and doing the desilting in a systematic way. "The response from people is very positive," said Mr. Raja Reddy.

The city has 171 km of open and 500 km of closed drains. In a major shift of policy, the MCH this year allotted nala desilting work to contractors on a round the year basis for continuous maintenance of drains. The earlier practice was to take up pre-monsoon desilting once a year. For convenience sake the MCH divided the works into 11 packages of major SW drains and 31 minor SW drains. "We have spent Rs. 1.80 crores during the first phase of desilting," an MCH official said.

How come the Water Board is still able to remove the silt? MCH officials admit that desilting should be a continuous process, as silt would accumulate within 15 days. What is important is that water is now flowing freely instead of stagnating, they point out.

For the first time the MCH had taken sufficient precautions to ensure that desilting is done thoroughly up to the bed level and the agency executing the work is made responsible. The Water Board has no such detailed planning as yet. It remains to be seen how it will take up the new challenge.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: | Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Discord between civic agencies over drains
• Cyberabad cops show the way
• MCH to plant 2.5 lakh saplings
• Four-year-old undergoes rare heart surgery
• A gesture straight from the heart

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu