The strike announced by private water tankers across Tamil Nadu has been withdrawn on Wednesday evening.
Speaking to TNM after two rounds of talks with the representatives from the state government, the President of the Tamil Nadu Private Water Tankers Association Nijalingam said that the district administrations of three districts – Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur – have agreed to grant licenses to tankers operators within two days after which they can tap groundwater in a hassle-free manner.
“They have also said that they will release the seized lorries within two days and withdraw the complaints filed on the drivers," he added.
He also stated that for the rest of Tamil Nadu, the government has assured licenses within 2-3 weeks so that the lorries can extract groundwater to cater to the demands of the people in those areas.
The Tamil Nadu Private Water Tankers Association, which has around 5,000 tanker lorries in Chennai enrolled in it, had announced strike from Wednesday after multiple complaints against the drivers and the owners for illegal tapping of groundwater. The association had also stated that the government and the police were not cooperating with their operations.
This is not the first time that the private water tankers have threatened to go on a strike in the state. In July, the association announced a strike after 40 water tankers were seized by the police in Parivakkam village in Tiruvallur. The lorries were allegedly tapping water from agricultural wells in that area. In May, though the strike was announced, it was called off at the last moment, in the hope of a meeting with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.