Tracking the movement of tanker lorries in Ernakulam supplying drinking water online may remain on paper as only a few vehicles have the Global Positioning System (GPS) facility.
Only less than 10% of the 300-odd tanker lorries have GPS facility, according to estimates by the Ernakulam District Drinking Water Transporters Welfare Association. The Legislative Committee, which issued stringent directives to ensure safe drinking water in tanker lorries, had recommended that water be transported only in lorries having the facility.
Owners of tanker lorries claimed that they were yet to receive any official communication stating that GPS facility was mandatory in vehicles. Senior officials of the Motor Vehicles Department agreed that only a few tanker lorries had the facility.
Members of a special squad appointed by the district administration said that the tracking of lorries drawing water from illegal sources was not possible without GPS facility.
“We will not be able to track the vehicles 24x7 considering manpower shortage and practical difficulties in ensuring it on a long-term basis. The only solution is to come up with an order saying that tanker lorries without the facility will not be permitted to operate,” they said.
The colour scheme should be strictly followed, with vehicles used for providing drinking water to be given blue colour, the ones used for transporting septage to be yellow and the ones for waste water to be brown.
Control room
A decision on the location of the control room from where the tracking of vehicles fitted with GPS facility could be carried out also remains in cold storage. The committee members had suggested that it should ideally be set up at the headquarters of the district administration at Kakkanad.
It could also be monitored by police personnel from a central point managed by the police department, they said.
