Bengaluru: As the summer has set in and water sources are becoming scarce, private tankers are fleecing citizens, charging upwards of Rs 1,000 for a tanker full of water.
Former mayor Padmavathi and a few of her predecessors had tried to reign in water tankers by making trade licences mandatory, to stop them from exploiting the people and groundwater resources. But for the last many years, the proposal has been only on paper and there has been no progress.
This year too, the BBMP is maintaining that it will make licences mandatory for water tanker operators and will fix the price on per load of water, but nothing has been done on the ground.
During a recent meeting, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad had said that a separate committee will be formed to look into the pricing policy as each water tanker operator has his own price. Based on the source of water, total capacity of the load, type of fuel used for transportation, availability of water in the area etc tariffs will be fixed, he had said.
But citizens complained that by the time BBMP and BWSSB regulate the water tanker mafia, summer will be over and they will wake up only during next summer.
“We have piped water supply, but the quantity is not enough as there are eight houses in our building. We have to opt for private tankers, but the price is very high," said a resident from Chamarajpet.
He said that tankers cater only to bulk consumers. “Those living on the outskirts are affected the most as they don't have a piped water supply and have to rely on borewells,” he said.
