Who says bouncers are only stationed at the gates of pubs and discos? The Hyderabad water board has now hired these ‘tough guys’ to keep protestors off its premises.

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board has set a precedent for government offices on ruckus management with these beefy-bodied, ruffian-looking men.

The board office in Khairathabad wears an eerie look these days with the presence of a group of well-trained bouncers taking over the security. The board has hired about eight of them recently to lend that extra ‘muscle’, to ward off trouble from trade unions and the aggrieved consumers who often make a scene on the premises.

But why bouncers, at the first place? Well, the water board has faith no more in the dime-a-dozen security guards posted here in the past. They were just not good enough. Most of them, with frail frames, were physically no match to the trouble-makers.

And, as instances from the past reveal, they were easy to overpower during skirmishes with the unions. It’s not just the unions but even ordinary residents who go straight for the throat of the officials over petty disputes.

After due deliberations, the water board found the city-bred bouncers as the best remedy. The ploy was to unleash their intimidating presence on the premises and without having to break anyone’s nose. Deployed at the entrance and inside in two shifts, the bouncers are paid between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per month for the constant vigil. They have specific instructions to protect managing director J Shyamala Rao, who often has to deal with the feisty trade unions and their demands.

The presence of bouncers in the water board building is obviously leaving the visitors bemused. Many of them feel as if they have entered a gym and not a government office.

But there are people in equal numbers who fume at the HMWSSB’s new ‘arm-twisting’ tactics.  Satish, working president, HMWSSB Employees Union wonders why the board is splurging on such weird security arrangements instead of addressing the core deficiencies within its own administrative systems. Regardless of the criticism, the big hulks seem to have restored normality to the functioning here. The only hitch though is that the women staffers are too scared to be around these burly nobles, thanks to their overbearing presence.