Hyderabad: Techies of water-starved Alkapur plan 3km run

HYDERABAD: Techies, who comprise almost 60% of the population of Alkapur Township, are planning to intensify their protests to get drinking water. They say that the government is overlooking the basic rights of taxpaying citizens.
“Residents of the township pay Rs 2.5 crore just in property tax a year. This does not include income tax or other indirect forms of tax collected by the government,” said Manoj Kumar, committee member Alkapur Township Resident Welfare Association.Kumar said the wait for water has been a five-year battle and for some residents and even longer one.
Speaking about the next step, Manoj Kumar said they were going to intensify protests. “We will come out in the streets every alternate week and meet officials in the run up to these protests,” he said. “We plan to gather 1,000 people for 3km run to highlight the cause soon.”
Ranjit Gurram, a techie, said, “There are 15 units in our apartment complex. We pay Rs 2,500 extra per unit every month. The problem aggravated in the summer when tanker demand rose.”
“We are not asking for freebies. We pay taxes and the government uses that for many schemes. But what about us?” asked another techie, speaking on condition of anonymity. Locals have expressed frustration that protests over months have been in vain, with nothing changing on ground. They say repeated representations to authorities have been met with empty promises.
Vasanth Kalyan, an entrepreneur who started his own IT firm, said the main problem is with different government giving contradicting statements. “Community members often divide themselves and head to different officials to speed up the process. When we get back and discuss the issue, we find officials are hoodwinking us by giving different versions. While one says work will start in six months, the other says file is awaiting sanction.” He says the need of the hour is for all stakeholders to give a concrete statement and abide by it.
When contacted, Ravinder Reddy, the general manager, division 18, water board, expressed helplessness over the situation. He said, “Our hands are tied till the estimate filed by us gets sanction from the government. We cannot even take up minor works as these too have been clubbed within Mission Bhagiratha.”