Hyderabad: With summer approaching, the demand for supply of drinking water through water tankers has increased in the city. Taking advantage, private water tanker suppliers have once again started fleecing the residents, as compared to last year there has been a 20 per cent increase in the rates of private tankers from Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,800.

Since the last week of January, there has been a huge demand of tankers, especially in the western part of the city including Nizampet, Gachibowli, Bachupally, Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Kukatpally, Hafeezpet, Kondapur and KPHB. As per Hyderabad Water Board data, compared last year there has been an increase in demand of tankers, as in January 2024 the demand was 85,769 and this year, it has increased to 1,22,427. From February 1 till date, the tanker booking was around 1,54,527 and last year during the same period it was 97,281.

Locals pointed out that the demand of water tankers increased due to erratic water supply in most parts of the city and though the water department claims that they supply water within 24 hours but that is not happening due to high demand and because of that locals are forced to depend on private tankers. The normal price of a domestic water tanker, with a capacity of 5,000 litres, is around Rs 500 to Rs 600, but now they are charging Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000.

“Every summer we face the same problem, but this year the water crisis has arisen from the third week of January itself, as in our area drinking water supply is very irregular and we are receiving water once in five days. The crisis has also burnt a hole in the residents’ pockets. While the water board is currently charging Rs 850 (for commercial) and Rs 500 (for residential) per tanker but as there is no control on private tankers, with the cost of private tankers above Rs 1,800, which is double the rate from last year,” said Raju Rao, a resident of Bachupally.

“In our area we are already dependent on water tankers especially during summer, but this year the demand of drinking water has risen, as the main reason is that the supply from our bore wells is not sufficient to meet our needs, as the groundwater level has gradually decreased and also due to huge demand, water board tankers are unable to supply water on time, so we are forced to be dependent on private tankers and burning holes in our pockets. It will better if Hyderabad water board takes stern action on private tankers, said Sai Teja, a resident of Gachibowli.

“In our area, it has been more than a month that there has been a leakage of water pipeline. Despite logging complaints, the water board has only given a temporary solution, and that has led to an acute shortage of water. With the poor supply of water, we have been forced to depend on private water tankers, which for the past one week have doubled their prices, pointed out a few residents of Nizampet.

On the condition of anonymity, a private water tanker supplier said that as they were sourcing water from the outskirts of Hyderabad, due to rise in transportation costs, they have increased the tanker rates.