Kerala - Kochi

When water tankers rule the road

Anand Haridas

Lorry operators deny charges of fleecing customers

KOCHI: Come summer, it is time for tanker lorries carrying water to hit the roads. And with them come complaints flowing in.

While there are complaints about tanker lorries exploiting natural water resources and not ensuring quality of water, the lorry operators allege that they face false accusations of reaping profit.

Last year, the district administration spent over Rs. 2 crore just on employing tanker lorries for supplying water to many parts of the district. "This year, the State Government has allotted Rs. 1 crore for various water supply schemes, which also includes employing tanker lorries," said District Collector A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish.

Within the city, the picture is different. Many residential apartments buy 10 loads of water, on an average, daily from private suppliers, and the price of each load of 12,000 litres of water could be anywhere between Rs. 400 and Rs. 650.

But the suppliers say they operate on loss.

"We get a profit of less than Rs. 100 per load of 12,000 litres of water. Only this much will be left after deducting the amount we need to pay at the water source, fuel for transportation and salary for drivers and cleaners," said Abdu P.M., vice- president of Drinking Water Suppliers Association.

The leaders of the association also add that there are some tanker lorries that charge consumers exorbitantly based on the urgency of the need.

"We also face harassment from various quarters. Our vehicles are often fined for overloading," said Ramachandran R., treasurer of the association.

The permit issued for tanker lorries, all of them earlier used for transporting petroleum products, is for carrying 9 tonnes.

But a full load of water will weigh around 13 tonnes. Lorry operators claim that they were given concessions in this at a meeting held with the District Collector and transport authorities.

None of these water suppliers has any mechanism to ensure quality of water.

"We will have to charge at least Rs. 2,000, if we are to provide treated water.

The public is not ready to pay more than Rs. 600 or Rs. 650," said Basheer of Best Water Supply, Kakkanad.

Almost all the tanker lorry operators contacted said that they employ basic methods such as sprinkling chlorine in wells and ponds from where the water is drawn.

On their part, the district administration sticks to water sources by the Kerala Water Authority to ensure quality.

But last year, there were widespread complaints about lorry trips being missed or diverted.

"This year, we have evolved a system to control the number of trips and try out the punching system to ensure that water reaches the destination.

"Without checks at multiple levels, there are chances of corruption," Mr. Hanish said.

City suburbs have already started feeling the heat of summer.

Many panchayats on the immediate outskirts of the city such as Chellanam and Kumbalanghi have started demanding more tanker lorry trips.

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