HYDERABAD: With demand for water tankers shooting up due to severe water shortage in the city, residents are having to wait for days together, to get the delivery of a water tanker.
The spurt in demand for water tankers has been so huge that about 1,500 to 1,800 water tankers used to be booked by consumers in normal course, now the demand is hovering between 2,500 to 3,000 tankers per day. As a result, most of water pumping stations are witnessing a steady stream of tankers, driving in and driving out all day, to cater to the rising demand.
“Earlier I used to make five trips a day. But due to increase in demand over the last week I am making anything between eight to ten trips,” said a water tanker driver waiting in line to get his tanker filled at the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) water pumping and filling station at Road No 7, Banjara Hills.
One can find more than 10 to 15 water tankers parked at HMWS&SB’s Banjara Hills division water station, waiting for their turn to be filled up.
While there is huge demand for water tankers in Kukatpally, Chandanagar, SR Nagar, Jagadgirigutta, Quthbullapur, Serelingamaplly, Miyapur, among others, it is moderate in other areas.
“We have ordered water tanker three days ago but till now we did not get the delivery. The situation was even pathetic last week when Godavari water was shut down for three days. While HMWS&SB water tankers are delayed, private water tankers are charging exorbitant amounts,” complained M Venkat Ram Reddy, a resident of Padmanagar Colony, Quthbullapur.
There is huge demand for water tankers especially on the city’s outskirts, while it is normal in divisions loacted in the centre of Hyderabad like Naryanguda, Abids, Vidyanagar, Lakdikapul, Red Hills, Vijayanagar Colony, Habsiguda and Himayatnagar With demand for water tankers reaching peak in March itself, officials are also apprehensive about the future.
“Usually we used to have severe water shortage in May in Hyderabad. But as most of the borewells have dried up early, we are seeing a huge rise in booking for water tankers in March itself. Though we have given orders for water filling stations to work 24x7 wherever necessary, still we have about 250 to 300 online water tanker bookings pending. We have also decided to rope in more tankers wherever and whenever necessary as the demand for water tankers is only going to increase further,” said Dr PS Suryanarayana, director (Revenue) HMWS&SB.
Huge Spurt in Demand for Tankers
■ HMWS&SB getting online bookings for more than 2,500 water tankers daily
■ 250 to 300 water tankers booked online pending to be delivered
■ HMWS&SB water filling stations working round-the-clock
■ Water board to rope in more tankers as the demand for them is going to rise further, in the coming days