Hyderabad, Oct. 24 -- Employees at the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) offices will have to switch off air conditioners (ACs) after 5 pm and keep them at 25 degrees Celsius, under orders to cut water and electricity use by at least 20 per cent.

Managing Director K Ashok Reddy issued the directions to officials, according to a press note dated Friday, October 23. He said the board must first practise what it asks of the public, as water conservation cannot become a people's movement unless it begins inside the utility's own offices.

He said the El Nino conditions expected ahead make conserving water resources a priority. Saving water and power, he said, should not remain a publicity exercise and must be vi...