Mercury is rising, so does demand for tanker water

Thiruvananthapuram: With the onset of summer, the district is facing an acute shortage of drinking water, and this has resulted in an increase in the demand for the tanker water. For the Kerala water authority (KWA) the increase in demand has resulted in a steady increase in revenue also.
According to the data from the KWA, from less than 3,500 orders for tanker water in November 2022 it has increased to more than 5,000 in March 2023. The revenue from the tanker water has increased from Rs 23.80 lakh in November to Rs 35 lakh in March 2023.
More orders for tanker water are received from Anamugham, Palayam, Karikkakom and Attipra areas. These areas constitute nearly 30% of the orders received. Lesser number of orders are from the areas like Kulathoor, Kowdiar and Akkulam areas in the district.
Of the total orders, 49% are from individuals, and 19.2% are from construction sites. Flats and apartments constitute 8.9% of the demands, hotels and restaurants constitute 7.9% and hospitals 6.1%.
The government institutions, shopping malls, public places, hostels and others constitute the remaining orders.
There are six vending points in the district for collecting water in the district - Aruvikkara, PTP, Choozhattukotta, Valakkadu, Vellayambalam and Anathazhchira. The most number of trips were carried out from Aruvikkara with over 3,000 trips in January, February and March (so far), followed by PTP and Choozhattukotta.
The KWA had started the initiative ‘Sujalam Sulabham’ in February 2020 to provide drinking water through tankers. In the last three months (from January to March) alone, the KWA could collect nearly Rs 1 crore from water tankers.
The initiative was started following complaints from the people that private water tankers are charging exorbitant amounts for drinking water and also on reports that the water provided by the private tankers is sourced from polluted places.
To curb this practice, the KWA and the city corporation joined hands in 2020 with this initiative.
At present Rs 612 is being charged for 1,000 litres of water; it consists of tanker charge of Rs 531, the KWA charge of Rs 66 and the city corporation charge Rs 25.
“The KWA hopes that the revenue will increase in the coming days as there will be more demand for tanker water. Hence measures are on to stock and supply more quantity of water to meet the demand,” said R V Santhosh Kumar, executive engineer (quality control division), KWA.