Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Water Board’s callousness

— PHOTO: P.V. SIVAKUMAR

Disturbing sight: A young boy employed by the HMWSSB clears a stormwater manhole near Indira Park.

Hyderabad: To err is human, to persist in error is devilish. As the picture shows, the HMWSSB has not learnt the lesson. It continues to treat its staff dirt cheap. How else can one explain its insensitivity to human dignity?

The Board still resorts to manual cleaning of clogged drains. Whenever drains choke, labourers have no option but to take a dip into the stinky muck to clear the blockade. The other day, a worker lowered himself neck deep in a wide pool of sewage while trying to clear a manhole at Indira Park. He was totally unprotected. No gloves, no mask and no instruments. Just his bare hands to clean up the mess.

It is unthinkable. Especially in this hi-tech age when tools are replacing man particularly in matters posing serious health hazards. The Board’s indifference is shocking as it received a rap on the knuckles from B. Subhashan Reddy, chairman, State Human Rights Commission, for a similar act of recklessness in February. But it has not mended its ways and continues to depend on manual cleaning of stuck-up manholes.

“We do use machines to clear the drains and we want to totally stop manual cleaning. But sometime it becomes necessary to remove a stuck-up thing,” says S.P. Sharma, director (Technical), HMWSSB.

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