After first promising that there would be no water shortage during
summer, including an uninterrupted supply of 1,300 million litres per
day, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is now set to
supply water in tankers at `360 per load (6,000 litres).

While
many areas in the city depend on ‘Cauvery water’, when this or their
regular water sources, whatever they may be, prove  insufficient, people
generally turn to private parties that supply water through tankers.

However, an important question is whether BWSSB’s water tankers are sufficient to quench the city’s thirst.

“Thirty
tankers are nothing. Even if they have 100 tankers, it won’t be
enough,” says Kumar K, proprietor of Kaveri Water Supply with its office
in Vasanth Nagar. With three tankers, the firm supplies water at `400
per load.

He also adds that while there’s some competition among
private water suppliers, they do not consider a similar service by the
BWSSB as a threat.

“We have our regulars (customers) – especially apartment complexes and commercial establishments like hotels,” he says.

Vishwas
M, who owns Banashankari Water, which supplies 6,500 litres at `600
adds that their prompt service too works to private businesses’
advantage.

“People know that it’s not easy to get BWSSB tankers to
come home. From what I’ve seen, you need someone with influence to ask
them if you need them to arrive on the same day, even,” Vishwas adds.

According
to him, promises like these are more easily made than implemented. “We
know how hard it is to refill and cover long distances. Plus, when
everyone wants water in the summer, even our sources are drying up, and
when water’s aplenty during the rains, there’s little demand for it.”

Gururaj,
an employee at J P Nagar-based Revathi Water Supply which supplies a
load at `500, thinks that this is a much needed change. “This business
is a hard one to survive in. We had six tankers earlier. Last year, we
cut down to three, and now there’s talk of closing down altogether. The
problem is that we don’t have the resources that the government has –
tankers, water sources, power supply among them. And after all, water is
a basic amenity, so shouldn’t they take care of it?” Nevertheless, he
too feels that the number of tankers that provide this facility should
go up.

A source within the BWSSB claims that the Board’s intention is merely to regulate the rates quoted by private tankers.

“The
service we’re providing is available throughout the year, but why
should people pay exorbitant rates unnecessarily. We hope if we announce
that we supply at `360, they too will bring down their rates,” the
official says.