In what is perhaps an indication to the impending water crisis in the city even before summer has set in, the water supply board, for the first time in a decade, will be hiring private tankers to provide potable water.
The last time Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) hired tankers was in 2007, when the areas newly incorporated to the city’s civic body were yet to be serviced through piped water by it, said Kemparamaiah, BWSSB Engineer-in-Chief.
“We have called for 100 tankers for the city, which will be kept ready for exigencies as we expect a surge in complaints over water supply in the summer,” he said.
Though he maintained that water supply is not an issue now, consecutive failures of monsoons, pre-monsoon, and December rains have pushed the reservoir levels to historic lows. Private water tanker operators too are seeing a boom in business that is usually observed only in mid-March.
The tankers — 25 each — will in standby at each division to supplement the 68 tankers owned by the BWSSB. The tankers are being hired at a cost of over ₹1.1 crore cumulatively and will be used by the BWSSB during peak summer in April and May.
May not be enough
However, even this may not be enough. “We have written to the Deputy Commissioner, the Department of Forests and other government agencies informing them that the BWSSB has the provision to use the tankers owned by these departments if the city faces a water crisis,” said Mr. Kemparamaiah.
