VIJAYAWADA: Residents of Ramalingeshwarapet in the city’s 32nd division are a worried lot as they have been getting contaminated water supply reportedly for the past two years. While repeated complaints to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) have not helped, buying bottled water at `30 per can is burdening families.
People have been complaining that the water supply from the taps is discoloured and further affecting their health. A local social work volunteer, T Padmavati, said they have to wait for hours before they can get clean and fresh drinking water. She added that despite the secretariat and volunteer system, none of the officials have taken responsibility to resolve the issue.
“Every day we complain about the contaminated water to the officials, but no action has been taken for the past two years. The government asks us to save every drop of water, but now the VMC staff, who visit the area occasionally, are advising us not to use the first 10-15 buckets of water,” Padmavati pointed out at the irony.
An auto driver in the area, N Kondala Rao rued, “Despite paying water charges to the municipal corporation, we have to buy water from mineral water plants, leaving the poor in a difficult spot.”A Ramadevi, a homemaker said, “Every year the VMC increases house tax as well as water charges, but does not show any interest to provide proper facilities. We can’t afford to buy mineral water, so we boil the contaminated water before drinking it.”
CPM State executive committee member, CH Babu Rao remarked that the government, which had announced that it will provide 24-hours fresh water supply, is not even able to provide clean water for at least a few hours. He urged the municipal authorities to respond immediately to public grievances.
Executive Engineer V Srinivas maintained that the drinking water is not contaminated in the area and said that except for the tap in one house, other taps are fine. He further said that officials have inspected the problematic tap and added that the issue has been taken to the notice of VMC commissioner Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar. Stating that water will be regularly tested, Srinivas said the problem will be rectified in a week.