Most Hyderabadis dissatisfied with civic services - survey

The city's first ever "report card on public services in Hyderabad" released by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) says more than 50 per cent of the respondents were dissatisfied with civic services provided.

The score sheet showed only 31 per cent were happy over garbage clearance, 28 per cent with the city's water supply, 26 per cent with the sewerage system managed by HMWSSB, 25 per cent with the electricity supply, 27 per cent with the roads and 34 per cent with the government telephone company.

As many as 93 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the posts and telepraphs department and 62 per cent with the State-owned bus company APSRTC. The report card was based on a survey of 780 general households and 210 in slums.

The high point of the report card was the feel good perception of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) which went contrary to the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board's (HMWSSB) understanding of itself based on its propaganda and often advertised services.

The survey also discovered that citizens of Hyderabad spent Rs24,174.3 m of their own money to cope with inefficient civic facilities. For example, 55 per cent of Hyderabad's citizens were forced to build underground water tanks to store precious drinking water, 60 per cent had to build overhead tanks and over 50 per cent had to invest in pumps and wells.

To get rid of disposable waste, 41 per cent had to construct septic tanks. The survey discovered a household spent an average of Rs19,000 for drinking water and Rs4,960 on sewerage.

On the behaviour of its civic servants, the report card rated APSRTC, road maintenance staff of MCH and AP Transco the "worst agencies" but rated the HMWSSB and Hyderabad Telecom slightly better than them.

On the inevitable question of corruption, a third of the respondents said they bribed officials while 77 per cent were asked by civic officials to pay – the rest simply paid up without even being asked.