88 schools thirst for water

HYDERABAD: Nearly 170 city schools are facing severe water crisis in spite of the central government-sponsored Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme allotting funds to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) to provide water connections to the institutes. Though Rs 25 lakh was given to HMWS&SB in July 2005, 88 schools in the city are yet to get a drop of water.
The schools, which do not have water connections, rely on students to find their own means to meet their needs."We go out to get water from the local juice shop or the water seller, if not, we do not drink water till we reach home,” said N Nageshwara Rao, a student of Government Boys High School, Mallepally No.1. The students cannot use toilets as there is no running water.
When asked about the issue, joint director and project coordinator of SSA, Manmadha Reddy told TOI that SSA has done whatever was necessary. "We had given money and also followed up on the allotment of water connections. We are only trying to provide basic amenities as per High Court order in 2006 and we need HMWS&SB to cooperate.”
While the ball is in the Water Board’s court, HMWS&SB officials claimed technical difficulties were causing the delay. "When the water connections were sanctioned, we hadn’t studied the problems that were bound to occur while laying pipelines. The sanctions were given under the instantaneous sanction policy of 2005,” HMWS&SB general manager Y Anjani Kumar.
The reasons cited by the Water Board include problems in receiving sanctions from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to cut roads and distance between the main water line and schools.
However, SSA maintains that the Water Board was not cooperative in the case of tap connections.
"For cutting pipelines to a single school, the board had extracted up to Rs 4.5 lakh from SSA,” said Reddy. HMWS&SB charges up to Rs 1,500 per metre for laying pipelines. When asked about the time taken for the completion of the project, both SSA and HMWS&SB officials maintained an eerie silence.