Water board plans to stop plying tankers for domestic use soon

HYDERABAD: In a first in the country, Hyderabad could well be on the road to becoming a ‘tanker-free’ city. Thanks to copious rains, drinking water sources flush with reserves and HMWS&SB’s sound water supply management in the city and GHMC peripheral areas, Hyderabad is likely to earn the sobriquet of tanker-free city soon.
HMWS&SB director (revenue) B Vijay Kumar Reddy told TOI that with demands from consumers for tankers coming down drastically, they could stop operating tankers for domestic use.“The fact that we have not renewed licence of 50 tankers to run trips tantamount to the massive dip in demand. We are even mulling over to streamline the regulations to hire the tankers,” he said.

But how did the water board manage to turn the corner? With the HMWS&SB commissioning water supply project in all GHMC peripheral circles six months ago and providing potable water to 40-50 la kh population thanks to service reservoirs and laying of hundreds of kilometres of supply pipes, the consumers haven’t felt the need for the tankers.
Presently, the water board supplies water through 800 paid tankers for consumers under ‘dial your tanker’ scheme and operates another 200 tankers for supplying free water. “These tankers are sent to those areas where there is absolutely no supply network. Tailend areas and habitations located on hilltop areas get free water,” a senior official explained.
Just last year, the scenario was chaotic. The mad rush for tankers from GHMC peripheral circles like Kukatpally, Kapra, LB Nagar, Alwal, Malkajgiri, Patancheru and Qutubullapur was too much for HMWS&SB to deal with. “In 2017 summer, the number of booking had gone up to 2,000 tankers a day and consumers had to wait for 5-6 days to get a tanker,” an official recalled.
What clinched the issue was that the water board was ahead of its time in commissioning water supply projects in certain peripheral circles much ahead of summer and operating them successfully.
Notwithstanding the dip in the number of bookings requesting for tankers this time round, demand from non-domestic consumers in the city and GHMC peripheral areas is also on the wane. “ Individual properties are getting enough water and there is no necessity for the owners to book the tankers. For apartment blocks, water is supplied for one-and-a-half hours. Only some apartments are seeking tankers,” the official added.