Tanker owners are making profits from the water crisis
Times of India: Efforts to fix the rates for water tankers so that water is not sold at excessive rates has not met which much success. Tanker owners are flat out refusing to follow the Pune Municipal Corporation’s rate chart.
On Monday the PMC fixed the rates for water tankers, following allegations that the water was being sold at very high prices.
The PMC decided that tankers purchasing water from the PMC and then selling it should abide by the fixed rates of Rs 600 for 10,000 litres of water, Rs 700 for 15,000 litres and Rs 800 for 20,000 litres.
“If a tanker operator is found charging more than this, citizens should contact the PMC’s ward office and register a complaint,” said municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade.
Salil Joshi from Kothrud, who regularly gets tanker water, says this is not what happens.
“This has not actually helped on the ground. The tanker owners refuse to give water if we talk about the PMC’s fixed rates. We are left with no option but to pay whatever charges the tanker owner asks.”
According to the municipal commissioner, the PMC runs 23 tankers in the city, including six for Urali Devachi and Phursungi. The PMC has also hired 47 tankers on contract and they make 300 to 350 trips to various parts to provide free water to areas which are not receiving water.
Thousands of private tanker owners are cashing in on the crisis. Filling water from private wells, these tanker owners are charging excessive rates ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 per tanker as the PMC has no control on the rates they charge.
“Since the PMC has fixed rates for tankers it should also ensure that no excessive rates are charged,” says P G Kulkarni from Suvarna Ratna garden society in Karvenagar.
“The PMC needs to initiate strict action against errant tanker owners. If a few licences are cancelled and tankers seized, tanker owners will learn a lesson,” says BJP corporator Vikas Mathkari.
Tanker owners who buy water from the PMC have another take on the matter. “The rates fixed by the PMC are not acceptable. We have to pay for drivers, tankers have to wait in line at the PMC water works for hours to fill water and then travel across the city. At the end of day, we are left with no profit,” said a tanker owner, requesting anonymity.
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