Water tankers call off strike, government promises to look into demands

CHENNAI: After staying off the road for three days seeking exemption from the government order that banned over tapping of groundwater for commercial use, private water tanker operators agreed to resume supplies in the city after talks late on Wednesday where the government agreed to consider their demands. Packaged drinking water units too have agreed to resume production.

“We withdraw our strike following an assurance from minister S P Velumani to set up a committee of officials and our representatives to resolve the issue. We express regret for the inconvenience caused to the public,” Tamil Nadu Private Tanker Owners Association president N Nijalingam told reporters. About 4,100 tankers in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur were off the roads in the past three days, causing several hotels to shut and residential complexes to ration water, especially along the IT corridor.

Earlier in the day, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had held discussion with officials at his residence after which PWD secretary S K Prabakar and Metrowater managing director Ashok Dongre engaged in talks with the representatives of truckers and packaged drinking water units.


About 4,100 tankers have stayed off the roads for past three days

1.4k packaged drinking water units to resume biz from today

While the packaged drinking water units immediately agreed to resume production, municipal administration and water supply minister S P Velumani later held talks with the tanker owners to end the impasse.

The truckers had gone on strike after the Madras high court last week upheld an order issued by the public works department in 2014, banning drawal and transportation of ground water for water-based industries in critical and overexploited areas. Nijalingam had then said tanker owners were scared to operate due to the court verdict. “We are actually doing theservicethe government must do. The administration, however, says we are wrong,” he had said.

The packaged units’ complaint was that the PWD was not giving clearance after the court order. “Our case is entirely different from that of the tanker industry. We are extracting water for drinking purpose and government officialstodaysaidthey wouldconsider our plea when an order is passed to the district collectors shortly,” said the Greater Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Association president,V Murali. About 1,400 packaged drinking water units, including 500 in Chennai, would remain operational from Thursday onwards, he said.