Water crisis to continue for 3 yrs
Citizens of the peripheral areas in Hyderabad will continue to suffer drinking water shortage for at least two more years due to a delay in the implementation of the Krishna Phase-III, as the state government has sanctioned a meagre Rs 30 crore for execution of the Rs 1,670 crore project.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board has little money to take up works on the Krishna Phase-III, and the Water Board is already mortgaging its properties to raise loans for the execution of the Godavari drinking water project for Hyderabad city. Experts say that the Krishna Phase-III drinking water project can be completed in less than 12 months, and that the city can get an additional 90 MGD water.
Sources say the Water Board is now seeking funding from Japan International Co-operation Agency and the Housing Urban development Corporation (HUDCO). Even though the HUDCO has in principle agreed to fund the Rs 1,000 crore Krishna Phase-III, the rate of interest is far too high, and the state government needs to provide a counter guarantee Urban development experts argue that the government should have allocated at least Rs 500 crore for the Krishna Phase-III and asked the Water Board to raise the remaining amount through loans from nationalised banks. “At this rate, the citizens of Hyderabad cannot expect more water from Krishna Phase-III in the next three to four years,” said a senior official from Water Board.
Hyderabad MPs, MLCs and MLAs from the Congress as well as opposition parties have been vociferously demanding the government to execute the Krishna Phase-III. The Water Board hired a private agency, Tata Consultancy, and got a detailed project report for the execution of Krishna Phase-III prepared. The DPR put the estimated cost of the Krishna Phase-III project at Rs 1,670 crore.
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