HYDERABAD: During the summers, the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad see a huge demand for water tankers, especially in March, April and May. However, owing to the Covid-19 crisis and the lockdown to control it, a majority of the water tankers remain stationed at the filling stations of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) as the demand for water tankers has come down drastically over the course of two years. In 2019, consumers, after booking a water tanker, would have to wait for over a week to get the tanker. Since commercial establishments like hotels, tiffin centres, bars, restaurants, shopping malls, multiplexes, function halls and cinema theatres are closed due to the lockdown, the demand for water tankers has come down.
Domestic consumers, on the other hand, are not facing any water shortage this season, as the water level in major reservoirs like Krishna, Godavari, Singur, Manjira, Osmansagar and Himayatsagar is comfortably placed.During summer, hundreds of water tankers make multiple trips in the Greater Hyderabad limits on a daily basis. Earlier each tanker, domestic or commercial, used to make upto 10 trips each day, but now they are hardly making two trips per day.
HMWS&SB officials told Express that during March, about 32,764 water tanker trips were made against 70,279 trips last year during the same period, a fall of 37,515 trips. In April, 40,561 trips were made against 57,365 trips in April 2020, a fall of 16,804 trips. From May, till May 17, as many as 21,687 trips were made against 81,440 last year. Officials suspect that there will be a huge fall in demand for water tankers in May as lockdown is in force.