A boy from Alkapur writes a postcard to the chief minister on Saturday. About 250 postcards were written

HYDERABAD: Launching another campaign to grab the attention of the powers that be to fulfil their demand for safe drinking water, residents of Alkapur township began a postcard campaign on Saturday. Writing to the chief minister, MAUD minister, Water board MD and Governor, children of the colony said water was their basic right.

Organised at SV Park, on Road No 4, the campaign saw parents and kids scribble their frustration. “Dear KTR uncle, we need water. We have been waiting for five years,” read one postcard. Another read, “Dear KCR uncle, please give us water. Save our colony.” About 250 postcards were received back by the end of evening.

Expressing his frustration, 13-year-old Sreekar Balagoni, said, “we have been waiting for many years for water. Through these postcards, we want to urge our leaders to look for a permanent solution.” His father Srinivas said the problem was not one concerning just a few people, but affecting 4,000 families. “Our apartments were built with proper sanctions and we are tax-paying citizens, then why are we being treated this way?” he asked.

Another child Vaanmayi Reddy, 9, said she had written to the governor with the hope that she would look at the issue with a fresh perspective. “I feel she will understand our problems,” Vaanmayi said. Speaking about why it was important to get their children involved in the movement, her father Shashidhar said his daughter actually developed skin issues because of the water. “We are dependent on water tankers for our needs. We do not even know where they get this from.”

Agreeing Naveen Alashyam, a resident, said, “tankers often bring in waste water which people purify and consume. Imagine our plight when we have to beg for water at a time when there are such bountiful rains,” he said. He went as far as to suggest that there was politiciantanker provider nexus which was the reason why municipal water wasn’t being provided to people of the township.

For their part, sources in the water board reiterated that unless the file for the project was not approved by the government, no work could be taken up.

