Golden opportunity missed to repair Singur pipeline

Hyderabad: The tussle between the technical and revenue wings of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has delayed the Manjira/ Singur pipeline work.

While the technical wing wants to completely replace the five-decade-old pipeline network, the revenue wing wants to just repair the pipeline citing the poor financial situation of the HMWSSB.

Once the ring main works is completed, the board will supply water from the Godavari to compensate for the lack of water from Manjira but it will do so through the same damaged pipelines. The board has already wasted three months and the water supply will only be restored by September.

A senior water board official said that HMWSSB has missed a golden opportunity to repair or replace the old and damaged pipelines. He said that since Manjira /Singur water to the city was stopped, the HMWSSB had the opportunity to fix the damaged pipelines, but the board lost the chance and if Godavari water is supplied via the network, about 60 per cent of it will leak through the severely damaged pipelines. He said repairs would cost about `50 crore, while replacing the pipelines would cost a whopping `500 crore. The network was supposed to last for 30 years and so is long past its intended life span.