Published Sep 13, 2026 | 1:53 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 13, 2026 | 1:54 PM
Sri Hari from Moulali, Vinay from Peddapur, and Kiran Kumar from Fatehnagar died within 24 hours.
The deaths of three outsourced employees of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) within 24 hours have sparked anger among the city’s contract workforce. The Telangana State Outsourcing Employees Joint Action Committee (JAC) accused the board’s management of subjecting meter readers to unbearable work pressure through repeated threats of removal and unpaid dues.
Tensions escalated further on Sunday, September 13, after police detained Telangana Kranti Dal’s Prithviraj Sangamreddy and JAC working president, Balakrishna Reddy, while they were attending the funeral of one of the deceased workers. The JAC condemned the arrests, demanded their immediate release, and warned of a state-wide agitation by contract workers if they were not freed.
According to the JAC, three workers, Sri Hari from Moulali, Vinay from Peddapur, and Kiran Kumar from Fatehnagar died within 24 hours. Kiran’s death reportedly occurred on September 12, even before the funerals of the other two were completed. Sri Hari and Kiran were both meter readers and are believed to have died of cardiac arrest. The JAC demanded a thorough inquiry into the actual causes of the deaths.
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The JAC accused HMWSSB Managing Director Ashok Reddy of specifically targeting meter readers and alleged that a proposed commission-linked tendering system was being used to threaten existing staff with removal. It further claimed that the details of outsourced workers were not being updated on the government’s IFMS payroll portal, delaying salary payments and adding to their financial strain.
The JAC has sought Rs 50 lakh in ex gratia and a government job for one member of each bereaved family, a time-bound investigation into the deaths, the scrapping of the new tender policy, timely monthly salaries, safety equipment, and permanent job security for HMWSSB’s outsourced staff.
Responding to the outrage on September 13, HMWSSB MD Ashok Reddy said meter readers currently in service were not being removed and that proposals for regularising them had already been sent to the state government, with a dedicated review meeting scheduled for September 15. He attributed the salary delays to pending attendance data from contracting agencies and added that dues would be cleared once verification was complete.
(Edited by Fayisa CA)
