Digging of roads for pipelines to increase traffic woes for Hyderabad commuters

The roads would be dug to lay 150-200 diameter pipelines and re-laid by contractors appointed by the Water Board.
Digging of roads for pipelines to increase traffic woes for Hyderabad commuters
Digging of roads for pipelines to increase traffic woes for Hyderabad commuters
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As if the potholed roads and ongoing metro construction in Hyderabad wasn’t’ bad enough for commuters, the government has taken the decision to start digging roads in the suburbs from Saturday.

Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), with the permission of GHMC, will be digging 2,700 km of roads in 11 merged municipalities, including Kukatpally, Uppal, LB Nagar and Quthbullapur, to lay drinking water pipelines.

“The pipeline network in these municipalities, was prone to pollution and leakage. They even don’t have enough storage capacity which affects the distribution of water,” said M Yellaswamy, Project Director in HMWSSB.

HMWSSB has taken a loan of Rs.1900 crore from HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation) to construct nearly 60 reservoirs and lay 2,500 km of pipelines for the water supply.

The roads would be dug to lay 150-200 diameter pipelines and re-laid by contractors appointed by the Water Board.

“In areas where larger pipelines are laid, it will be the responsibility of the GHMC to re-lay the road,” said Yellaswamy.

Assuring that traffic will not be affected, Yellaswamy said that the construction of reservoirs is expected to get completed by end of June.

However, Dr Lubna Sarwath, convenor of SOUL (Save Our Urban Lakes) pointed out that the city is getting swamped with construction every other day.

She said, “The project does not come with a social objective of giving equitable water rights to every citizen, but it is about physical infrastructure that fulfils certain claims to be made later by the government.”

“Every other water body and Musi river have been polluted by government agencies with sewage water, thus turning all drinking water sources into cesspools,” she said.

Other than the polluted lakes, she raised concern about the bad roads and the traffic problem faced by commuters every day due to construction work.

Apart from the increase in dust pollution due to the metro construction, several youngsters in their 20s have been complaining of back problems due to the poor state of the roads, while older commuters are becoming increasingly prone to hypertension and high blood pressure.

“Bad roads are leading to bad conduct with peers in office and with family members. Stress related and back and spine related problems are on the rise in the city,” pointed out Dr Lubna Sarwath.

Though the municipality and traffic police officials have surveyed the areas to be dug in order to minimise traffic problems and HMWSSB has assured that digging will not be carried out simultaneously everywhere, the misery for commuters in the city seems to be far from over.  

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