Civic body’s RO water plant plan gathers dust

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s promise made four years ago to set up 1,500 reverse osmosis (RO) water plants in the city limits still remains on paper. The project was aimed at providing free water to people in slums and city outskirts.

However, apathy of corporation officials saw the plan, which would have provided relief to about onethird the city’s population this summer, gathering dust.

The project was aimed at providing water to people in slums in the city at 20 paise per litre and `4 for 20 litres.

The project had promised water to residents living in all city slums at 20 paise per litre and `4 for 20 litres. The corporation had also decided to spend `2.5 lakh per RO machine which would be maintained by self-help groups as part of the slum-free city initiative.

According to official sources, the corporation selected 40 locations and 1,466 notified slums in GHMC limits in 2015, where 1,500 RO water plants would be installed. The corporators even went a step forward and collected donations for setting up plants in their jurisdiction.

Interestingly, the project even witnessed a rift between Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board and municipal authorities who said several areas still continued to receive impure water leading to water-borne diseases.