HMWS&SB taps AI interface for better consumer complaint management 

An Artificial Intelligence interface to help manage and resolve consumer complaints is Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board’s (HMWS&SB) new feature for better service delivery.

The Board recently analysed all the complaints from last year it received on the customer care number and arrived at a way forward. It found the most complaints based on the nature, the area from which they are reported, and the frequently registered complaints. A similar exercise was carried out with water tanker bookings.

‘Pragathi Nagar in focus’

From September 1 last year, a total of about 6.50 lakh various complaints were received, and more than 12 lakh water tankers were booked, according to the Board. While it also showed the top 10 water tanker consumers in the city, a surprise finding was of one apartment complex in Pragathi Nagar that had booked 674 water tankers during last year.

As senior officials from the Board conducted field visits to the area, issues of poor supply of drinking water surfaced. Pragathi Nagar, which is located at a higher altitude, also has a rocky terrain, which makes borewell drilling difficult. The locality reportedly has over 100 apartment complexes, and they have poor borewell capacity.

HMWS&SB managing director K. Ashok Reddy, who inspected Pragathi Nagar and spoke to residents, also examined proposals for a separate feeder for the locality. At an estimated ₹3-crore, works for a separate feeder were approved and they would be taken up soon.

Mr. Reddy also instructed officials to explore and take up injection borewell as a project in apartment complexes wherever feasible, so that the dependence on water tankers would reduce gradually with better groundwater resource. The Board would provide technical assistance to set up injection borewells in these residential complexes.