HYDERABAD: After a decomposed body was found in an overhead water tank at Risalagadda in Musheerabad last Tuesday, the Water Board has decided to put 24x7 security in place at all the water reservoirs in the city to avoid such incidents in future.
It has been decided to ban entry of people on the premises of water reservoirs and instal as many as 600 CCTV cameras. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) will recruit 100 private security guards from Friday and there will be monitoring and patrolling by 200 Water Board personnel on the premises of reservoirs.
Water Board Managing Director (MD) M Dana Kishore held a review meeting with senior officials on the issue. He said the incident at Risalagadda water tank was unfortunate and tighter security arrangements would be put in place to prevent any untoward incidents at reservoirs and water tanks.
The MD said there were already 378 service reservoirs in the core city, of which there are offices in about 100 locations, all of which have 24-hour security. For the remaining 278 reservoirs, there is partial security now, but it has been decided to have 24-hour security he said.
It was suggested that the gates near the stairs leading up to the elevated reservoirs should be fitted with locks to prevent outsiders and the lids covering the reservoirs should be properly locked.
Kishore said the tender to recruit 100 private security guards had been finalised, while the 200 additional personnel from various departments in the Water Board will be assigned patrols on the reservoirs’ premises within 15 days. Four flying squads are being set up to inspect reservoirs.
The MD further said the police department would be contacted to connect the feed from these CCTV cameras to the local police stations. In the next three days, 21 teams consisting of CGMs, GMs and vigilance officers will conduct security audits at all reservoirs and water tanks. They will submit a comprehensive report on the security measures to be taken. Further measures would be taken up after examining the reports.