70,000 water connections for crisis-hit Guntur in two months

At present, there are 1,11,239 tap connections in the city. The civic body hopes to take the number to 1.6 lakh.  
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GUNTUR: Here is some good news for Guntur residents who are facing water crisis in the city. If all goes as planned, 70,000 new tap connections will be granted within two months.

The Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) is conducting a special drive for people below the poverty line to allot a tap connection to each house in the city. The aim is to ensure that all households in the city have drinking water.

Under the civic body’s new scheme, the residents can apply for a tap connection free of cost. The applications will be received across the city till the end of this month. GMC deputy engineer K Santhi Raju said people have to submit proper documents and, after scrutiny, the tap connections will be sanctioned within 15 days.

At present, there are 1,11,239 tap connections in the city. The civic body hopes to take the number to 1.6 lakh.  

If a household has underground drainage facility, it will get 750 litres per day and the others get 500 litres per day. There are around 23 water head storage facilities in eight locations in the city. Given the increased demand for water supply, new overhead tanks have been proposed. Some of them are already under-construction.

Every day, 45 million litres of water is distributed from 23 water facilities in the city. There is no water problem as such in the city except in summer. As long as the Krishna canal flows, Guntur city will not face water crisis.

GMC DE S Venkateswara Rao says 18 overhead tanks are under-construction. They will be completed before December. A sum of Rs 277 crore has been alloted from the World Bank funds for the city’s drinking water needs. And almost 82 per cent of the works have been completed, he said. The civic officials are keen on completing the formalities like processing of applications before the construction of overhead tanks.

Currently, Pragathi Nagar, Mugdhum Nagar, Mrutyumjaya Nagar, Yanadi Colony, Vengalayya Nagar, Venkata Ramana Colony, NCP Colony and Ramireddy Nagar residents are facing water shortage. And another 10 villages, which were merged with the city limits, are also facing water crisis.

GMC  SE R Gopala Krishna Reddy said the resdients are responding positively to the special drive. Of the proposed 70,000 new connections, 21,000 will be given through the World Bank funds, and another 54,000 under the Amrut scheme.

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