Hyderabad water board launches “PAANI” app to curb water misuse

Hyderabad: In view of El Niño conditions, the government has taken precautionary measures to tackle drinking water challenges effectively. As part of this, every family should reduce its water use by at least 20 percent. To curb the wastage and misuse of drinking water, the Water Board has made the PAANI app available. Its aim is to involve the public in spotting water wastage in their surroundings and bringing it to the officials’ attention, said Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar.

Ponnam Prabhakar and Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) Managing Director Ashok Reddy launched the app at the Board’s office on Thursday.

The minister said water conservation cannot be achieved through the Board’s officials and staff alone, which is why the public is being made a partner. Every citizen interested in conservation can become a “Save Water Volunteer” and report complaints.

“Every citizen must become a ‘Water Warrior.’ Water conservation should not be only the government’s responsibility. It has to become a people’s movement. Our slogan is ‘20 percent water saving in every household,’” he said, appealing to every family to reduce its water use.

Interested citizens can register as volunteers on the Water Board’s website with a government ID, then download the app from the Google Play Store and file complaints about water misuse. Every complaint will have SMS-based verification, and the volunteer’s details will be kept completely confidential. Officials will inspect on the ground and, if violations have occurred, will issue notices and impose fines as per the rules. If water is misused anywhere, a penalty will be imposed automatically as soon as a photo is sent.

The Chief Minister will personally meet and felicitate the best volunteers. The minister urged people from every colony and apartment complex to come forward voluntarily and bring any wastage to the officials’ notice.

“Because of the El Niño effect, there are severe rain-deficit conditions. There is a source problem and a groundwater problem, and groundwater is depleting. There is a demand for 15,000 tankers, and we are providing 120 litres of water to every person. Water must not be wasted. It should be used only as needed, and not beyond that,” the minister said.

He said that, given the present situation in the Water Board’s Hyderabad area, water harvesting points were set up at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital on 2 October 2024.

“Drinking water must not be used for washing vehicles or cleaning floors. It is mandatory to prevent tanks from overflowing, stop leakages, and set up recharge pits and rainwater harvesting systems,” he said. When this was done on 2 October 2024, recharge pits were only for awareness; now they are mandatory. Orders have already been issued that all offices in Hyderabad, and government and private schools, must build recharge pits.

In villages, the government is proceeding with a recharge pit for every house, a farm pond for every field and a pond for every village. Water harvesting must be done even in gated communities, as at the village level.

To reduce pressure on drinking water, water treated through STPs should be used for construction, industries, parks, gardening and similar purposes. From 1 November, steps will be taken so that recycled water is used for building construction and for green water tanks. “In the future, there may be a situation where water-based vehicle servicing is dropped and air servicing is done instead,” he said.

“If we take a village with a thousand houses, it has a natural system of ponds and wells. In towns, water harvesting to raise groundwater levels and the expansion of STPs are not being done properly,” he said.

Ponnam said that Godavari Phases 1 and 2, Singur, Manjira, and Krishna Phases 1, 2 and 3 were brought during his party’s tenure, and that the government that came afterwards did not bring even a drop of additional water. “We are now bringing water to Hyderabad from Yellampalli,” he said.

The minister said people in the metropolis are not paying adequate attention to conserving water when heavy rains fall. Groundwater needs to be increased, and this responsibility lies with everyone, he said, calling on people to set up a recharge pit (inkudu gunta) in the compound of every house to capture rainwater. He made it clear that the government’s intention is not to impose fines on the city’s people, and that the emphasis is on creating awareness about saving water.