HYDERABAD: With temperatures soaring earlier than expected this year (February, 2025), the demand for water tankers in Hyderabad has already increased by 60% compared to February 2024. As groundwater is depleting, officials anticipate a further surge in demand during the peak summer season from March to May.
From February 1 to 24, over 1.44 lakh water tankers were booked through Metro Customer Care (MCC), HMWSSB mobile app, IVRS (customer care) and other platforms, compared to 87,700 during the same period last year. The highest number of tanker bookings comes from areas under HMWSSB divisions like Manikonda, Durgam Cheruvu, Kukatpally, S R Nagar, Nizampet, Hafeezpet, Saheb Nagar and others.
According to official sources, the Water Board supplies around 545 million gallons of water (MGD) per day with additional water sourced from groundwater reserves. Water consumption usually rises by about 15% during summer. However, authorities assure that there is no water shortage in Hyderabad as major reservoirs — Osmansagar, Himayatsagar, Manjira, Singur, Krishna and Godavari — have adequate water storage. Further, the Water Board has taken necessary steps to ensure uninterrupted supply of water.
For this summer, HMWSSB will continue to provide 545 MGD upto ORR. However, certain areas experiencing significant groundwater depletion — Asifnagar, Shaikpet (Division-3), Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, SR Nagar, Fateh Nagar, Erragadda (Division-6), Moosapet, Bhagyanagar, Kukatpally, Hasmathpet (Division-9), Madhapur, Kondapur, Gachibowli, Ayyappa Society (Division-15), Hydernagar, Budwel, Attapur (Division-16), Miyapur, Chandanagar (Division-17), and Manikonda, Kismathpur, Jalpally (Division-18) — are being closely monitored.
To prevent any disruptions in supply, HMWSSB has ramped up its tanker services by deploying additional staff at filling stations, ensuring uninterrupted pumping operations, reducing turnaround time and increasing the number of tanker trips as needed.
There are more than 966 registered tankers under HMWSSB, with the majority having a 5,000 litres capacity followed by 10,000 litres and above. The board has more tankers at its disposal this year compared to last summer, ensuring that most requests are fulfilled within the Service Level Agreement (SLA) timeframe.