Viral videos circulated, suggesting that drinking water was being supplied from this tank despite monkeys being inside.
Screengrab from the video.
On Wednesday, 3 April, 16 monkeys were extracted from a drinking water tank located at Vijay Vihar, Hill Colony of Nagarjunasagar, around 3 pm.
A show cause notice has been issued by the Nalgonda District Collector Hari Chandana Dasari to the Municipal Commissioner of Nandikonda and the Executive Engineer of Nagarjunsagar Project for the locality — as the drinking water tanks come under the Nagarjunasagar officers’ control — on Thursday, 4 April.
While viral videos circulated, suggesting that drinking water was being supplied from this tank despite monkeys being inside, eyewitnesses recounted the incident to South First. They noted that on 2 April, the tank was filled up, but officials rarely inspect it.
Veenoda, a resident near the water tank in Vijay Vihar, Hill Colony, who raised alerts, shared her experience with South First. “On 2 April, drinking water was supplied in the early morning around 5:30 to 6 am, as usual, and I filled my containers. However, by 10 am, I heard loud noises from a group of monkeys, which startled me as they exhibited unusually aggressive behaviour. I did not expect them to fall into the tank because they usually play on top of my house too.”
Assuming they were only playing, she refrained from going outside and informed her neighbours about the monkeys near the drinking water tank.
The next day, Veenoda noticed a foul smell emanating from the tank and observed that the water flow from the taps was minimal. Upon closer inspection, she also smelled the water from the tap. Expressing concern, she mentioned that some residents with water purifiers might be fortunate to avoid any potential contamination. Later they discovered that monkeys had fallen into the tank.
Viyakumar, a resident of Hill Colony in Peddavaram Mandal, Nandikonta Municipality, and an employee of the Tourism Department, shared his account with South First. He recounted being informed by Veenoda about suspicions of monkeys falling into the water tank, prompting him to take action.
Unable to climb the tank himself, he enlisted the help of a young boy from the colony. Upon inspection, they discovered three monkeys inside, causing concern among the residents. Despite previous instances of squirrels falling into the tank, they had not taken such incidents seriously before.
Viyakumar highlighted their proactive approach to cleaning the tank, stating that they had been cooperating with the municipality for the past five to six months to ensure sanitation in their area.
Initially, they had planned to remove any monkeys and clean the tank with bleach if necessary. However, they did not anticipate the severity of the situation.
Although they could not recall drinking water from the tank on 2 April, no health issues had been reported among the residents. Currently, they are not receiving water from the contaminated tank, and the municipality is working to connect their pipes directly to another water supply.
PVS Nageshwar Rao, Nagarjunasagar Project Superintendent Engineer, informed South First that officers who were issued the show cause notices are submitting their explanations to the Nalgonda District Collector.
A viral video surfaced on 3 April showing municipality workers removing dead monkeys from the drinking water tank, and later in the evening, Nalgonda District Collector Dasari tweeted information, which was deleted the next day. He then requested an officer to conduct an inquiry.
(Edited by Kamna Revanoor)
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