SCB residents want free water

● THE SECUNDERABAD Cantonment Board has one of the largest slums of the city under its limits, Rasoolpura, where the residents are finding it hard to pay hefty sums as water bills.

Residents of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) are sharply critical of the alleged step-motherly attitude from the civic authorities as regards the water supply and charges thereof.

On Sunday, ward member T. Satish Gupta met residents of various apartments in Indrapuri Railway Colony and they pointed out that the residents of GHMC areas were getting 20,000 litres of free water, while those of the colony faced water problems. “When the government can give free water to the entire populace in the GHMC limits, why can’t the same be done for us,” asked Mary, a resident of Meghna Gardens in Marredpally.

Satish Gupta said it was unfair to charge as high as `315 to `450 per month for drinking water supply. Worse, the board had last month issued several notices saying they should pay `135 per family in the form of arrears.

The SCB has one of the largest slums of the city under its limits, Rasoolpura, where the residents are finding it hard to pay hefty sums as water bills.

“It isn't just the water bill that irks the residents, the lack of pressure in the water is also a pain. If the SCB is the largest cantonment in the country, shouldn’t there be sufficient action from the central government,” asked Gupta.

According to sources in the board, talks are under way with the state government to replicate the free-water scheme for the SCB too so that the entire geographic area of Hyderabad is covered under the free-water scheme.