Parched Bengaluru at the mercy of private tankers

Bengaluru: Whitefield resident Sudhansu Mohanty can't do without water tankers. Neither can the 350 other residents of his apartment complex. "They cater to our daily needs. Since borewells are running dry, we have no choice but to rely on tankers. It's been a ruthless summer," rued Mohanty. A tanker with a capacity of 8,000 litres supplies water to the complex at Rs 400 per load.But the water has to be treated before use.
With access to no other source of water, scores of residential complexes are turning to private tankers supplying hard water. Most of them charge between Rs 400 and Rs 600 for 6,000 litres. However, the water quality is poor. Moreover, only a handful of suppliers draw water from borewells dug 3-4 years ago. Most others use third party borewells (by paying a particular price per load of water) and cover up the difference by charging residents more. Some even supply water drawn from borewells around lakes, which contains pollutants.
Sainath S runs a private water supplying company in Mathikere; one tanker caters to 7-8 apartments in the locality on a daily basis. Sainath charges Rs 450 per load but can't draw water from his own borewell which went dry about a year ago. "I pay around Rs 200 to the third party from whom I get the water. After visiting each of these apartments, I go back to the collection point to refill the tanker," he said.
With the KRS Dam, considered the lifeline of Bengaluru, recording a new low (84.76 litres), BBMP had advised water tankers to ensure a fair supply to all areas. However, BWSSB-run tankers are only 70 in number, each having a capacity of 6,000 litres except two (8,000 litres). Last year, BBMP had capped the rates to Rs 350 but this year, they have been hiked to Rs 540, adding to residents' woes.
"BWSSB supplies pure and potable water. Our tankers procure water from our tanks and we can guarantee it is of good quality. Private tankers have their own ways of extracting water and since most of them are unlicenced, they don't even come under the scanner," said Sarala Kumari, PRO, BWSSB. "In areas prone to a water crisis like K R Puram, Whitefield and RR Nagar, we have repaired defunct borewells. We have fixed around 7,000 of them," she added.
But BWSSB tankers are neither affordable nor accessible to all. The number is limited and most apartment complexes, especially on the outskirts, find the service irregular. "The water board has told us that its tankers can't reach our location. So we have to bank on private ones," said Gopinath P, resident of Vijaynagar.
Switched to borewell
We have been completely dependent on borewell water for two years as we have not been receiving Cauvery water for seven years. Before our house had a borewell, we were getting water from private tankers as we were not aware of the BWSSB service. We used three tankers a month at Rs 500-600 each. Since the service was expensive and not very reliable, we made the transition to borewell. | Anurag Bagrodia, resident, Sanjaynagar.
Huge amount as advance
We will end up shelling out around Rs 35,000 at one go if we opt for BWSSB tankers. It is much easier in the case of private tankers, where one has to pay only per tanker. It is lighter on the pockets of the 100-odd residents in our apartment. | Uma Dhiren, resident, Koramangala.
MY VIEW - Govt should rein them in: Private tankers usually get water from borewells they dig near lakes like Horamavu Agara, Kalkare, Dasarahalli and Yelahanka. Around 80% of the borewells around lakes are used for commercial purposes. Private suppliers also dig borewells at various places and pump water from them. They don't have official permission to use this water commercially but they do so. They make a killing in summer as the demand is more and citizens are willing to pay an extra Rs 200-300 to get water. There are around five lakh borewells in the city and water procured from them cannot be used for drinking. Although BWSSB doesn't allow digging of borewells, it is still being done and polluted water is being distributed to the people. BWSSB should not be allowing the circulation of such private tankers. Namma Bengaluru Foundation recently studied the water at Bellandur Lake and found it to be of extremely poor quality. The Bengaluru development minister should take steps to rein in private tankers. | Lakshmi Kantha M, research associate, Namma Bengaluru Foundation.