The wait for a tanker load of water supplied by Chennai Metrowater has got longer up to a month in some areas of the city. In a bid to address acute water shortage in the city, Metrowater is hiring vehicles with lesser carrying capacity to transport water and cut down on delay.
The scramble for water has worsened in the past one month as water resources and borewells are going dry. Metrowater plans to add 300 more vehicles to its fleet of tankers to supply water to the drought-hit city. Officials of the Metrowater said vehicles with capacity to carry 2,000 litres and 3,000 litres of water would be added to the fleet in one week. The number of trips would be increased by 3,500 per day and the delay in tanker supply against booking through ‘dial for water’ service reduced.
“We have also increased the number of telephone lines to 20 to enable consumers to book tankers through the helpline-45674567. Measures are being taken to prevent hacking and double booking and hacking of the website,” said an official.
In what could be the highest number of tanker trips in the recent years, Metrowater is operating 9,704 tanker trips daily to tackle the mounting water crisis. Of this, nearly 3,160 tankers trips are plied on payment basis.
The existing sources would help sustain city’s water supply at the rate of 500 million litres till November. “We would be able to supply the present volume of 525 mld till June-end. Resources in Poondi reservoir and Sikkarayapuram quarries would last for a fortnight,” said an official.
Besides plans to refill Veeranam tank that now supplies a bulk volume of water, Metrowater is developing infrastructure to bring 10 mld of water from abandoned quarries in Erumaiyur to Chembarambakkam water treatment plant. Work to lay a pipeline for a distance of 10 km would be completed by this month-end.
Water from Vellore
As a last resort to deal with acute water shortage, Metrowater is also coordinating with Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board and Southern Railways to transport water from Vellore.
It has studied the feasibility of bringing 25-30 mld of water from Vellore through 50-wagon train from Katpadi and Jolarpet.
“We need to create infrastructure that includes filling points and pipeline from water treatment facility. This would be used only when there is a necessity,” said an official.