CHENNAI: Chennaites will have to pay more for getting potable water from private tankers next month depending on its availability, according to president of Chennai Private Tanker Lorry Owners Association PS Sundaram.
Sundaram told Express there is no immediate crisis over availability of water although it has come down by about 20 per cent. “We are planning to increase the cost of water being supplied to apartments by another Rs 200 for supplying 20,000 litres. Earlier, we were charging Rs 2,200 for 20,000 litres of water. The price may go up by Rs 200,” he said.
Residents living in far-flung areas like Nerkundram, Maduravoyal adn Taramani say they are not facing acute crisis. But Sundaram warns that if rain continues to stay away next month, water could cost more. “It all depends on daily trips. If availability is less, then trips will increase. The cost of diesel will rise as we’ll be procuring water from far off places. We will compensate by increasing the price of water,” he said.
Sateesh, a Santhome resident, says that residents of his flat are totally dependent on private tankers. “Nowadays, we are not getting adequate piped water supply from Metrowater,” he says.
“Earlier, we used to get two loads of 12,000 litres of water each for our flats as the supply was not adequate. Now Metrowater has cut down its piped supply. As a result, we are not getting any supply. Now, we have to rely entirely on private water tankers. They are providing us five loads of water a month.”
Sateesh pays nearly Rs 1,600 for a load of water and the owner of the tanker is planning to increase it to Rs 2,000. The reason — the private tanker that supplies to his area is not being allowed to take water from the MRC Nagar filling point of Metrowater.
To a query on why he is relying on private water tankers when Metrowater is cheaper (9,000 litres for only Rs 600), Sateesh says it takes nearly a week to get the supply. “Our needs are immediate and we don’t have any option but to rely on them,” he says. A Metrowater spokesperson said they plan to increase the trips besides hiring additional tankers.
“We already have 520 tankers. We will increase it by another 250. We are also increasing the trips from 5,000 to 7,000 a day,” the spokesman added. Piped water has reduced drastically and is nearly less than half of what was supplied earlier. “It could be less than 400MLD,” Metrowater sources said, refusing to give a break-up of 550MLD water supplied to the city that include piped and tanker water.
Water recycling mandatory for Metro connections
Special and multi-storied buildings built after 2002 will have to put in place a water recycling mechanism by the end of this year where in black water (toilet waste water) and grey water (waste water from bathing and cooking) are separated or face disconnection, says Metrowater.
A GO in 2002 made it mandatory for special buildings and multi-storied buildings to separate such water.
Chief Secy reviews heat wave situation
Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan on Friday reviewed the comprehensive precautionary measures being taken by various departments to face the heat wave condition prevailing in most parts of the State. Secretaries of seven departments and senior officials took part in the meeting.
Already, all district collectors have been advised in this regard. Besides ordering schools to be closed from Friday, the govt asked them not to conduct special classes. For those pursuing higher studies and taking exams, special buses will be run.