There’s some bad news for people living in Chennai. The potable water from private tankers might be getting a lot more expensive, depending on availability of water, reports The New Indian Express.
PS Sundaram, president of Chennai Private Tanker Lorry Owners Association told TNIE that there is no immediate crisis of water supply but it has come down by 20 per cent. They are planning to increase the cost of water being supplied to apartments by another Rs. 200 per load, which is about 20,000 litres of water.
He added that it also depends on the daily trips. If the availability of water comes down then the trips will increase and the cost of diesel will increase, as they will be obtaining water from far off places. Then the cost will be obtained by increasing the prices of water.
A metro water spokesperson said that they are planning to increase the trips and are hiring additional tankers. They have about 520 tankers and it will be increased by another 250. Moreover, the number of trips will be increased from 5000 to 7000 per day.
They added that the piped water quantity had drastically reduced and is nearly less than what was supplied earlier. It would be less than 400MLD.
On Thursday, there was a road blockade carried out in Cuddalore by more than 500 farmers from 25 villages, who rely on water from the Wallajah Lake for irrigation, condemning supply of water from the lake to Chennai Metro water.
The state of Tamil Nadu has been reeling under severe drought, with water at several reservoirs at record low levels.