Hyderabad: Former opposition leader of Telangana Legislative Council and Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir criticized the Telangana government’s free water scheme for Hyderabad.
In a media statement on Wednesday, he said that providing 20,000 litres of water per month in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) lacks clarity and is aimed at misleading the people. He said the scheme could add more confusion to consumers than benefit them.
“When all consumers already have metered water connections, why are they being asked to install a new meter,” he asked.
The Congress leader said the supply of drinking water in slum areas of Hyderabad through public or community taps was already free since the beginning. Therefore, he said, domestic slum consumers have nothing to gain or lose from the new scheme.
“Why are the domestic consumers being forced to replace the existing and functional meters with the new ones,” he asked.
The Congress leader said that there was absolutely no clarity the implementation of the scheme for consumers living in apartment buildings. He said it was ridiculous to ask flat owners to install individual meters or go for individual registration as they get water supply through one connection and they split the bill amount among themselves.
He also objected to the condition of linking Aadhaar numbers to the Customer Account Numbers (CANs). He said this might lead to intrusion in the privacy of consumers.
