Thirsty Vizag: Port city faces acute water crisis after GVMC employees go on strike
The employees are demanding the release of pending salaries and revised wages
By Sistla Dakshina Murthy
Representational Image
Visakhapatnam: Normal life in the port city has been severely hit after nearly 1,200 outsourced water supply staff employed by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) went on an indefinite strike from Thursday night.
The employees are demanding the release of pending salaries and revised wages.
Revised wages and salary dues trigger protest
The outsourced workers, under the GVMC Contract Workersā Union affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), are demanding immediate implementation of their revised wage structure.
They are also upset over a three-month delay in salary payments, which has left many struggling to manage their households.
Talks fail to break deadlock
Efforts to negotiate between the union and GVMC Mayor Peela Srinivas Rao failed to yield any solution. Union leader P. Venkat Reddy said workers are staging sit-ins at various pump houses, raising slogans for justice, and have refused to resume duties until their demands are met.
Citywide water supply disrupted
The strike has brought the drinking water supply to a standstill across all 98 municipal wards and several industries in the city.
Pumping operations from key water sources, including Yeluru, Tatipudi, Gosthani, Gambheeram, and Raiwada canals, have been halted, leaving over three lakh households without water.
Residents forced to queue up at borewells
With no piped water supply for over 30 hours, residents in many colonies are queuing up at borewells for water. However, they complained that even the borewell water is muddy and unfit for drinking.
āWe are forced to use this water for cooking and drinking. The authorities must resolve the issue immediately,ā lamented a resident waiting near a community borewell at Bakkannapalem.
GVMC urges conservation but offers no solution
GVMC officials have urged citizens to conserve water, but the corporation has not issued any statement about when the crisis will end or how it plans to resolve the strike.
