ODF tag washed away in sewage

The plan to transform Hyderabad into a global city appears to be a distant dream as the sewerage system in the four zones in the core city is yet to be developed.

While the city was declared open defecation-free (ODF), night soil is still being collected from septic tanks in prime locations like Banjara Hills, Jubliee Hills and Cyberabad.

Ravi Kumar, a resident of Camelot Layout in Kondapur, said, “We put lakhs of rupees to purchase the home in this location considering the proximity to IT companies. We have the occupancy certificate and expected to get a pipeline, but have still been trying for it for the past three years. For the past three to four years we are relying on septic tanks and spend thousands of rupees to get the septic tank cleaned.”

Septic tank cleaners charge somewhere between `1,500 and `2,000 in locations south of the Musi river. While 750MLD sewage was being treated in Hyderabad which was not even half of what was being generated. Hyderabad with a 1 crore population, including the floating numbers, generated 1,500MLD sewage. This was flowing through the open drains from the south and north catchment areas of the Musi.

According to expert Rameshwar Rao, “The remaining sewage is being dumped into the lakes without proper treatment. Ground water of many villages is being contaminated. For a Smart City, sewerage should not be collected in septic tanks. Unfortunately, a lot of which is being collected is dumped in an unenvironmental-friendly way.”

According to M. Satyanarayana, HMWSSB executive director, “We have spent roughly about `1,500 crore on sewage in Hyderabad. But funding is becoming a major problem. There were several DPRs lying but institutions are not ready to fund the projects completely. A Mumbai-based agency prepared a sewerage plan for Hyderabad with 15 drainage districts south of Musi and 45 in the north, but couldn’t be executed due to lack of funds.”

Experts and consultants participated in designing the sewerage master plan for the city but nothing materialised. According to the Foundation for Futuristic Cities president Karuna Gopal, “The problem is we are knocking on the same doors for funding. There are several international agencies which give funds at a nominal interest rate.”