Temple town of Bhadrachalam caves for water

KHAMMAM: The temple town of Bhadrachalam located on the banks of Godavari river, is facing acute drinking water problem. To solve the drinking water problem in the town on a permanent basis, former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy sanctioned a scheme for Bhadrachalam in January 2008 at a cost of Rs 9.3 crore. The scheme was to be completed by April 2009. But it is way behind schedule due to official apathy. Even two years after the expiry of the deadline, only 60 per cent of the works have been completed. Due to the undue delay in completion of the scheme, its cost has escalated from `9.3 crore to `16 crore. With the escalation of the project cost, revised estimates were sent to the state government in 2010. But the government has not cleared the revised estimates of the scheme so far. According to an official, Rs 11 crore more is needed to complete the remaining 40 per cent of the works.Due to shortage, one third of people in the town are forced to purchase drinking water at the rate of Rs 5 to Rs 10 per pot. In some colonies, people are forced to walk to 2 to 3 km to get a potful of water. When the water problem in the town was taken to the notice of district collector Siddhartha Jain recently, he promised to complete the water scheme soon.