With summer at its harshest, the number of tanker bookings at the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has shot up, with the water board receiving more than 2,000 bookings almost everyday in the last few days.
With soaring temperature, the HMWSSB’s call centre has been buzzing incessantly, said an official, unwilling to be identified. “Last year, during the same period, we received about 1,600 bookings on an average and it almost doubles whenever the mercury touches 43 degrees Celsius or more,” he mentioned.
“Every year in summer, the tanker bookings increase, but this time it’s very high. In May alone, the total bookings have exceeded 50,000,” stated the official. In comparison to last year, the tanker bookings were a whopping 10,000 more this year. A senior official also pointed out that the demand could also be attributed to decreasing groundwater levels across the city, which leads to drying up of bore-wells.
The increase in bookings also comes in spite of the HMWSSB supplying an additional 45 million gallons per day (MGD) from April, as part of the first phase of supply from the Krishna Phase-3 project. The second phase of the same project will yield another 45 MGD in the coming days, said the senior official.
As of now, the HMWSSB operates 923 water tankers charging Rs. 400 and Rs. 700 for domestic and commercial bookings respectively. “Each vehicle makes about eight trips a day,” said the official.
