Hyderabad: The RO (reverse osmosis) plant project, that is envisaged to provide pure drinking water to several areas in Greater Hyderabad, has created a rift between the Water Board and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
While the Water Board officials claim to supply drinking water without impurities, municipal officials state that several areas still continue to receive impure water leading water-borne diseases.
“The municipal water is pure to drink and, we have domestic purifiers and RO systems at homes from which we get the water further purified. A big RO plant would not be of much use in the city colonies,” said Ganesan, a resident of Himayatnagar.
“Not many of us fetch water from the RO plant as we get good water through the municipal connection. Also as the plant is located in a hilly spot. It becomes very difficult to fetch water on our own from there as there is no transport facility either,” said another resident of Syed Nagar.
Water Board officials too feel that installation of RO plants in the city colonies is a “precious waste of resources” as the cost of installation of 400 units across the city will be about Rs 16 crore.
However, the Mayor, substantiating his initiative, said, “There are many areas where many people suffer from water-borne diseases, and RO is the best way to address the issue.”
A Water Board official, who did not want to be named, claimed that “the water, when supplied, is in the pure form. It gets a little polluted due to the pipelines that are ruptured and in bad condition.”
Shoury Reddy Singireddy, an expert in the water purification sector, said, “The only permanent solution could be to re-lay or repair the pipelines and distance the drinking water pipelines from the sewerage ones. It will cost a huge amount, but will surely be a good long-term investment.”
