The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Water tankers take a deadly toll on city roads

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 09, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Water tankers take a deadly toll on city roads

By K. Lakshmi

CHENNAI, SEPT. 8. Prince Kumar is the latest victim to fall prey to the vehicles tankers that are today the lifeline of water-starved Chennai. The four-year-old boy was killed when he was knocked down by a water tanker contracted to Metrowater at Besant Nagar on Tuesday.

The accident occurred when he was walking along Elliots Beach Road with his father, Sridhar, a rickshaw puller. The boy was rushed to a private hospital and later taken to the Children's Hospital, Egmore, where he died late on Tuesday night. Traffic police said the tanker driver, 27-year-old Balamurugan, has been arrested. He was trained at the Institute of Road Transport, the police said.

The death of the boy is the latest accident involving water tankers.

Figures available with the traffic police show that of the 540 accidents involving heavy vehicles this year, water tankers were involved in 194 accidents.

Accidents involving tankers claimed 39 lives last year; this year, 47 have been killed till August.

A key reason cited for the increase is the rise in the number of tanker lorry trips, thanks to the growing water scarcity.

With the pipelines going dry for over a year, residents are dependent on the tankers, both run by Metrowater and private suppliers. At present, about 3,000 water tankers are plying in the city. Of these, about 760 are privately owned, and they play a crucial part in meeting the residents' daily needs for drinking water. Metrowater currently runs 11,800 trips every day.

Besides, several tankers ferry water to the city from wells in fields in the suburbs and as far off as Thiruporur and Gummidipoondi.

Metrowater drivers say they are pressured to speed up operations and those who drive private tankers said there was intense competition among the suppliers for speedier uploading and supply.

Training for drivers

The Joint Commissioner (Traffic), G.U.G. Sastry, said that to some extent, the inexperience of drivers was also a reason for the accidents.

A camp, being conducted in association with Institute of Road Transport, Taramani, would train 2,600 tanker drivers in 55 batches by the year-end, he said.

Besides a two-day training session on driving skills and abiding by road rules, the drivers also need to undergo a medical and eye check-up. Those with health problems were referred for treatment. The licenses of those found to be `misfits' were cancelled, Mr. Sastry said.

The vehicles were being checked frequently with the help of regional transport officers and action would be taken depending on the outcome of the checks, he said.

Denying that inexperienced drivers were handling the tankers, a Metrowater official said only those above 25 years with a heavy vehicle driving licence were hired.

Frequent checks on vehicle fitness and on the health condition of the drivers were also being done.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu