CHENNAI: The severe water shortage that the city is facing, and the resultant complaints of shortage and lack of transparency in sharing the resource, have prompted the Chennai Metro Water board to insist on online booking for supplying water through its tankers from now on.
While consumers could book and order through phone calls till now, the water board is not encouraging it anymore, said a spokesperson, adding that they have made it mandatory to book it on the official website (www.chennaimetrowater.com).
“We are trying to bring in transparency in supplying water at a time like this. Earlier, water tankers from filling stations could not be tracked. But now, we get daily reports on online bookings as well as water being supplied by the water tankers, which are being tracked by officials,” said an official.
The consecutive failure of monsoon has led to severe depletion of groundwater table and also the water level at reservoirs, which forced Chennai Metro Water to cut down supply. Since then, the demand for water from residential apartments has gone up substantially.
The new system has caught many unawares. Among those who were asked to apply online was cricketer L Balaji’s wife Priya Talur, who took to Twitter to comment on the new rule. “Until last week we just had to call those guys for water. Now we are told to book for metro water online, so much demand apparently (sic),” she tweeted. One of the respondents said he requested the authorities to send a tanker this time, promising to book online from next time onwards.
Meanwhile, the agency has stressed that water will be supplied to only those who have been paying the water bills on time. “If there are any pending bills then the booking will be cancelled,” the spokesperson added.
To a query on tanker water getting delayed, the official said water would be supplied within three days from the date of booking. The Chennai Metro Water tankers undertake about 6,200 trips a day.