Hyderabad, August 03: The officials alleged to have been responsible for the Bholakpur water pollution case might go scot-free. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS SB) Engineers Association today urged minister for municipal administration urban development Anam Ramnarayana Reddy to take up action for dropping of criminal cases registered against the Water Board officials.
The association feels it would help in restoring the morale and confidence of officials and staff, who are supposedly toiling day and night in ensuring uninterrupted supply of potable drinking water and safe disposal of sewerage.
However, it seems like there would be no justice for the deaths of over a dozen people who died due to water pollution on July 29, 2009. Central Crime Station (CCS) police had arrested five officials in the case.
Association members also submitted a representation to the minister, who is also the vicechairman of HMWS SB for taking favourable action. They told the minister that without proper sanitation and hygiene, even chlorinated water supplied through pipelines may get contaminated.
In the affected areas of Bholakpur, it is a clear case of stagnated stormwater drains and garbage mixed with animal wastes strewn all around, which is causing contamination in drinking water supplied from the reservoir.
Water supply to houses are kept open without any valve or bibcock at the 4 to 5 feet sumps which are filled up during supply hours. However, this water gets mixed with toxic chemicals and blood of animal skins kept for seasoning. The water then enters the distribution system through house connections and are causing serious ailments for residents of the area. If unchecked, the pollution might spread to other areas and cause a widescale problem in the twin cities.
–Agencies