Floods: Prices of Motor Pumps Rise Sharply Following High Demand

 Vijayawada: The prices of motor pumps in the open market have skyrocketed in the aftermath of the Budameru floods that submerged over two lakh houses and extensively damaged water pumps.

Retail shops in the city have increased prices by 50 per cent in view of the high demand and citing an (artificial) shortage of pump sets in the market.

Water pumps are essential for a majority of the houses in the flood-affected Ajith Singh Nagar, Nandamuri Nagar, Payakapuram, Pipula Road etc. All households depend on water supplied by the municipal corporation through pipelines for short durations daily.

This water is pumped to storage tanks using motors, as groundwater availability in the region is low and households do not rely on the bore wells.

The floods that submerged many areas and houses for over ten days, damaging all household items as also motor pumps. After the floodwaters receded, many families rushed to buy new motor pumps.

Retail shops selling motor pumps in the I- Town area were quick to take advantage of the high demand. They acted in unison and raised the prices by Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000 across various makes.

A motor pump normally cost Rs 2,000 but is now being sold for Rs 3,000 or more.

Kumari, a resident of Radha Nagar said, “Without the pumping water up and storing it in the overhead tank, our work at home would suffer. The water from the pipelines is supplied at specific times only. Cleaning my house filled with mud has become difficult.”

Another resident, Nageswara Rao, said, “I purchased a new motor pump for Rs 3,000 from a shop in I-Town market. We need to use a lot of water for cleaning work at home, including washing clothes and utensils.”

Flood victims have urged the government to introduce a system for providing motor pumps at subsidised prices or free of cost.