Unpaid salaries: Hyd loses water supply in HDA protest

HYDERABAD: The water supply to Hyderabad from the filtration plants was suspended for six hours on Wednesday by the protesting staff of Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) due to unpaid salaries. The shutdown, which the employees of HDA and its subsidiary, Water and Sanitation Agency, often take recourse to, will continue every day until the issue is resolved. Shortage of water was reported from several localities on Wednesday. The closure and six hours of scheduled electricity load-shedding at the filtration plants will create water scarcity in the district. The district is supplied with around 70 million gallons per day. “HDA director-general Noor Muhammad Laghari’s mismanagement is responsible for this situation,” said Behram Chang, leader of the workers union which closed the four water filtration plants and over a hundred water and drainage pumping stations. He claimed that the regular and contractual staff has not been paid salaries from four to six months.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th,  2016.