Water prices go up in residential areas around the city

According to residents in these areas, the private water supplied used to charge Rs 1,250 per tanker till now. But now, they have increased it up to Rs 1,500. The tanker owners used to charge this much during peak summer. Last year, they charged this amount from June to September. “But this time around, the scenario is different. They have already increased the tariff per load by Rs 250,” said C Murugaiyan, vice-president of Federation of Residents’ Welfare Association. “We are afraid rates will go up further during this summer,” he added.

G Vinoth, a resident of Srikaram Shubhadhi Apartment in Thaiyur, said the rates of private water tankers were revised about two weeks ago. South Chennai Private Water Tanker Lorry Association president N Nijalingam said the hike in tariff has not been uniform across the neighbourhoods. Some have resorted to the hike based on the distance they cover to deliver water, he said.

The associations identified 5,000 new sources including the agricultural bore wells from the far-flung places beyond Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur last year.

“We are struggling to meet the demand. “A few tanker owners have raised the prices as the distance between the source of water and the residential areas has gone up significantly. Because of that, the prices were increased at few places.” This, however, could be felt in other places as well. According to Nijalingam, the association was waiting to hold talks with the government before taking up any decision in this regard.