AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu’s camp office at Lake View Guesthouse is surviving on tanker water as two Nizam-era water connections have become non-operational. Naidu had occupied it on June 19.
According to (HMWS&SB) records, the guesthouse’s two Nizam-era (3/4 inch) connections have not been in use since past five years.
Although it wasn’t a big deal till March as it was being used for housing visiting VIPs, its allotment to the AP CM post bifurcation has changed the scenario.
“The water board had dug up the road in front of the guesthouse five years ago, but did not bother to restore our connections. We have requested them many times to either replace it or sanction a new one. But there has been no response. We have paid the water bills till date.
Since the past five years, we are procuring tankers to avoid inconvenience to VIP guests,” a general administration (GAD, protocol) official in charge of the Guesthouse said.
“At present, we get two water tankers from the HMWS&SB every day. We are making necessary arrangements to avoid inconvenience to the CM, bureaucrats, cops and other staff working at the building. As of now, there is no water problem, but we need a permanent water connection,”the official said.
HMWS&SB deputy general manager (Somajiguda circle) N Pattabhi Ramulu, however, had a different take: “The guesthouse has two connections which became defunct due to road cutting. But when we requested GAD officials to replace the pipeline, they refused permission for digging.”
He further said: “We have sent a fresh proposal to lay a pipeline between Lake View Guesthouse and Government College of Nursing at a cost of Rs 8.5 lakh. But traffic police is sitting on the file for road digging. Once the water board sanctions a connection, we will lay a new pipeline within a week.”