Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) on Tuesday, January 6, registered criminal cases against 19 residents of SR Nagar for illegally tapping into the city’s drain network.
Acting on directions from HMWSSB Managing Director Ashok Reddy, vigilance officials took action against unauthorized connections from the pipeline supplied by the water board. The illegal taps were discovered in the Thattikhana section under O&M Division No. 6 after the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was constructing a new road in the area, a press release by the water board said.
Officials said the 19 residents from a local colony had independently connected their properties to the main sewerage pipeline without seeking approval or paying the requisite fees.
Following the detection by the vigilance wing, officials removed the unauthorized connections and initiated criminal proceedings against the violators.
Reddy also issued a warning that similar action would be taken against anyone found pilfering drain services. He appealed to citizens to report illegal water taps and drain connections through its vigilance helpline numbers 9989998100 and 9989987135.
Robotic machines to inspect pipeline issues
Last week, on January 3, HMWSSB’s Ashok Reddy instructed water board officials to focus on reducing complaints of polluted water and to replace all old pipes within two months. He also said that the water board has already deployed a robotic machine called the Pollution Identification Machine, which helps detect leak points and sources of contamination through internal pipe inspections using a camera system.
Reddy asked officials to collect details on areas where most of the complaints of polluted water are received from and to analyse the source of the problem. He also asked for division-wise details of old pipes and a plan on replacing them.
