According to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board, Hyderabad logged over 16.43 lakh water tanker trips this year, with more than 7.3 lakh trips made during the summer alone — a new record achieved with a fleet of 730 tankers and 78 filling stations.
| Photo Credit: File Photo
From battling water shortage in West Hyderabad — drawing immediate parallels with Bengaluru’s summer struggles — to inaugurating sew crucial sewage treatment plants (STPs) and recording visible change through a 90-day special drive towards a ‘sewage overflow-free city’, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) saw a challenging year.
The Board saw a change of guard in its top brass, and recent programmes including frequent field inspections by top officials, brought new energy to approaching complaint resolution.
According to the Board, the city logged over 16.43 lakh water tanker trips this year, with more than 7.3 lakh trips made during the summer alone — a new record achieved with a fleet of 730 tankers and 78 filling stations. The crucial summer season also saw emergency pumping operations at the Nagarjunasagar and Sripada Yellampalli projects. The city consumes 560 million gallons of drinking water per day, from the Godavari and Krishna projects. The Board estimates this demand to rise to 867 mgd by 2030 and 1,114 mgd by 2050.
The other constant aim of the Board is 100% treatment of sewage generated in the city. Currently, of the 1,950 mld sewage generated daily in the Hyderabad urban agglomeration, including 1,650 in GHMC limits, 772 mld or 46% is being treated through 25 STPs. At an outlay of ₹3,866 crore, the new STPs, with capacity of over 1,100 mld, are under progress to treat the remaining. The year saw the inauguration of 11 STPs, while another nine facilities with capacity of 443 mld are in the final stage of construction.
Another initiative that yielded results and satisfaction for the Board was its 90-day special drive that started on October 2. Clearing long-pending sewage issues and augmentation of groundwater through rainwater harvesting were the twin goals.
As of December 28, the drive achieved desilting of 2,106 km sewage pipeline and 1.68 lakh manholes in the city. Effectively, complaints of chokage and sewage overflows reduced by 30%, the figures show.
The water board through its one-time settlement scheme-2024 also encouraged 1.17 lakh consumers to clear dues and earn a discount amounting to ₹35 crore for total payments worth ₹102 crore.
Published – December 30, 2024 12:15 am IST
