HYDERABAD: The area has a maze of optic fibre lines, but no sewerage lines! Strange as it may sound, the hub of IT and ITES services of the State, Hi Tec City and its surroundings, once a sleepy village and now the upmarket destination of the rich, has no underground sewer lines.

A proposal to lay sewerage lines in the area was in a limbo for two full years with the players involved - Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, Hyderabad Urban Development Authority, Seri Lingampally Municipality and Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board - looking the other way given the huge funds required to ground the sewerage network.

With Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy sanctioning Rs. 40 crores for the purpose, the plan appears to have finally gained momentum. "We will be according it top priority and work will begin shortly," an official of HMWSSB said.

Isolated case

However, the Hi Tec City is one of those lucky cases. A modern sewerage network has eluded the entire city and the surrounding municipalities. The existing length of some 2,200 km of sewer lines is archaic and crumbling at many places, while the rapid growth witnessed over the past few years in the city agglomeration mandates another 1,600 km of sewer lines, evidently a Herculean and money-consuming task.

An ambitious Rs. 150-crore project to lay sewer lines in an extent of 500 km has hit the roadblock with technical problems, not to forget official callousness. After almost a year, only 50 km of sewer length was laid even as the city roads reeled under the impact of the digging works. With the monsoon arriving the spectacle of overflowing drains only looms large.

Among the surrounding municipalities, only parts of L.B. Nagar, Uppal, Qutbullapur, Gaddiannaram and Kukatpally have underground sewers and everywhere else it is septic tanks, including the Hi Tec City region. "Constructing sewer lines is a big challenge," feels an official.

The endeavour requires huge funds and integrated planning, given the vast area to be covered and it remains to be seen how the Government proposes to raise funds. The Chief Minister's directions on Tuesday asking HMWSSB to come out with a master plan for water and sewerage sectors of the municipalities and updating of the existing one for the core city area raise hopes. But will the surrounding municipalities be as lucky as the technology hub, Hi Tec City?

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