HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) MD K Ashok Reddy said the 90-day action plan to make the city free of sewerage overflows, which started on October 2, was showing positive results. The special drive to clear chokes and sewer overflows onto roads has reduced complaints, he added.
Ashok, along with Water Board Executive Director Mayank Mittal, reported that of the three lakh sewer manholes and 3,600 km of sewer pipelines in the GHMC limits, 60% of the work was completed. To date, 1,600 km of sewer pipelines and 1,22,100 manholes have been desilted. The remaining work is expected to be completed by April or May next year. In the next monsoon, the desilting efforts are projected to reduce sewage overflow complaints by 30%, they added.
HMWSSB identified hotels, restaurants, hospitals, hostels and other institutions as significant contributors to sewer overflows. Notices will be issued to such establishments, mandating the construction of silt chambers to manage solid waste, failing which stringent action will be taken.
The Water Board also highlighted the need to add 10–11 km of sewage pipelines across over 100 locations in the city where no sewage lines currently exist. The HMWSSB is preparing estimates and will initiate a special drive to lay new sewage pipelines, Ashok added.
The Water Board MD noted that citizens are increasingly using the Metro Customer Care (MCC) system, which receives an average of 70,000–75,000 complaints per month. Of these, around 60% pertain to chokages within house premises or overflows on roads.
“We have analysed these complaints in depth and conducted GIS mapping. In many of these cases, houses that were originally one or two floors have been converted into multi-storied buildings, putting pressure on the sewage system. Another issue is the lack of regular desilting work. While cleaning the sewer manholes, we are removing a substantial amount of silt. These complaints are addressed daily, as any delay could escalate the problems. Strict action is taken against officials who close complaints without resolving the grievances and mark them as solved, with memos issued to such individuals,” Ashok said.
No extra costs incurred
During the 90-day drive, teams are desilting 100–200 metres of pipelines and 20–25 manholes each day, the MD said, adding that this initiative has been executed without incurring additional costs. He said that no similar initiative has been organised elsewhere for efficient sewage management.