HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has urged the state government to exempt people living in slums and unauthorised colonies in the city and on its outskirts from submission of registered sale deed copies for releasing sewerage connections.
In many of the unauthorised colonies, notified or non-notified slums in Greater Hyderabad, due to lack of individual toilets, people are defecating in the open places, nalas and on railways tracks leading to health hazards.
A few days ago, HMWS&SB managing director B Janardhan Reddy has written a letter to the municipal administration and urban development (MAUD) authorities requesting them to exempt the rule of submitting registration sale deed copy on the lines of Gujarat and Maharashtra states where individual sewerage connections are released without insisting on sale deed copies from individuals in society’s interest.
If sewerage connection is provided, it will pave the way to construction of toilets by individuals.
The water board releases sewerage connections to houses whose owners submit the title deed copy along with municipal sanction plan, GHMC tax receipt.
It was found that a majority of the slum- dwellers living in temporary huts and half-built structures constructed on government lands do not have title deed copies or the municipal sanctioned plan.
Due to non-submission of the required copies, the water board is rejecting the applications for sewerage connection.
Due to lack of sewerage connection in slums and other places on the city’s outskirts, people are resorting to defecation in open places, open storm water drains, etc causing health hazards.
In some slums, individuals are letting out the sewage in open area and some are illegally connecting the sewage to the nalas of GHMC.
Janardhan Reddy said HMWS&SB was keen on providing sewerage connections in slums and other places if the state government relaxed the rule of submitting the title deed copy. The state government is likely to consider the request of HMWS&SB as giving connection does not entail ownership of the land to the individual, he added.
Keeping health aspects in mind, the Gujarat and Maharashtra governments, under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), are giving sewerage connection to who ever applies for it without insisting on registered sale deed or sanctioned plan.
The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) specifies that the scheme applies to all urban local bodies (ULBs), even to those who are living in unauthorised colonies or notified, non-notified slums.
As Telangana is implementing SBM in all ULBs of the state, slums in Greater Hyderabad can be declared as open defecation free by constructing new individual household latrines in slums.
If the rules are relaxed, SBM can be extended to the slums.
As per the SBM scheme, every household will be given `4,000 by the Centre (ministry of urban development) to construct a toilet with an additional incentive from the state government. The scheme specifies that the first instalment of `2,000 will be released after verification of the beneficiary by ULB and second instalment of `2,000 will be released only after photographs of the under-construction toilets are sent as proof and after personal verification by ULB officials.