With the reliance on water tankers rising over the past few months in the city, Chennai Metrowater plans to implement a GPS-based automatic lorry tracking system to curb unaccounted tanker trips.
The water agency plans to hire the services of a system integrator, who would be required to install GPS devices, operate the system and also develop a web-based application software to track the tankers for two years. Though attempts were made in the past to fix GPS equipment in the tankers, the projects failed due to unaccountability and lack of use of data for tracking tankers.
At present, nearly 7,800 trips are made daily through 760 tankers that operate on contract for the water agency.
Metrowater continues to supply 470 million litres a day (mld) in the city. Of this, nearly 60 mld is supplied through tankers.
Initially, about 520 GPS devices are required to be fixed in the tankers to monitor the movement of the vehicles, stoppage at a location beyond a specified time and also deviations, if any, from chartered routes, said officials.
The water agency recently formed a squad to check on illegal water supply, particularly to commercial establishments, and also cancelled work orders of the erring lorry operators.
The GPS-enabled tracking system would further help ensure that water reaches domestic consumers.
Developer to be finalised
The water agency is in the process of finalising the system integrator, who will develop a software to alert designated officials of any deviations in tanker trips through text messages and online alerts, an official said. Similarly, an SMS alert would also be sent to officials in case of tampering of GPS equipment installed in the vehicles.
The water agency has now extended the gap between booking payment trips online to 10 days. Welcoming the initiative, lorry operators said this will help improve efficiency and also control speed. Besides cancelling the work order of the erring lorry operators, drivers should also not be allowed to ply trips during the contract period to prevent illegal tanker trips, they said.
