Hyderabad: 50-year-old water line is destroying new roads

Hyderabad: A 50-year-old water pipeline along the road from Hafeezpet to Lingampally junction in the IT corridor, leaks every five metres and has been causing extensive damage to the road. The pipeline is mostly below ground but at a few spots, it emerges outside.

Any repair to the road is useless due to the leaks. This route is also the key alternative route to the Mumbai highway from Hydernagar to BHEL. At many spots, the weakened road just caves in.

The pipeline was laid from Patancheru to the reservoir at Lingampally campus, near the Hafeezpet railway station, 50 years ago. The pipes, three feet in diameter and five metres long, were made of concrete and have an automated jointing system at each end as there was no coupling system then.

The pipes had a 30-year service life and are now leaking at every joint, causing water logging along the way — from Hafeezpet to Huda Colony junction. Due to the leaks, a road laid recently by the municipal authorities at an estimated '4 crore, is already damaged.

A. Anjaneyulu, who lives in Madinaguda village, said traffic chaos is common here. “To avoid accidents and jams, many are taking the route to reach BHEL, Tara Nagar, Serilingampally and Chandanagar from Hafeezpet. There is no alternative route to this pipeline road in case there is a traffic jam,” he said. General Manager of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, P. Venkateswar Rao, said they have already sent proposals to the state government for the replacement of the entire line at an estimated cost of '50 crore.

“The service life of the pipes ended 20 years ago. And now, the entire line is leaking. Till the replacement work begins, we are managing with minor repairs,” he said.