Thiruvananthapuram: From water kiosks at drinking water scarce wards to GPS on KWA water tankers, the district administration has many fresh ideas to prepare for drought. However, private water tankers remain unbridled and make hay exploiting water shortages at residential and commercial buildings. According to KWA sources, every 10,000 litre of water sold by the government for around Rs 400 is sold at over Rs 1,300. These rates are comparable to Mumbai standards where the same water is sold at Rs 1,500.
However, the difference is that in most other states, water is sourced from wells by truck operators who pay a higher cost to well owners to extract water. “The water can be legally availed from KWA dispensing stations by flashing a request for water from various house owners or hospital management. No one has any record of the actual destination or charges levied,” officials said. In states like New Delhi, each tanker has to be registered by the water department to monitor consumption pattern and increase accountability. “We at the district level have no such system. We plan to install GPS in government water tankers and help local bodies to monitor them,” said colector S Venkatesapathy. As per estimates, around 300 water tankers from the government and private operate across the district.
