Gurugram residents decry rise in tanker rates amid recent water shortage in Gurugram

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) restored the pipeline on late Tuesday night. However, residents on Wednesday alleged that some parts of the city are still not receiving adequate water supply.

Residents across Gurugram have alleged that they are forced to rely on expensive water tankers for the past five days following a disruption in the city’s water supply.

A tanker agency supplying water in Sector 46, said that the prices were increased due to unavailability of water across the city. (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) restored the pipeline on late Tuesday night. However, residents on Wednesday alleged that some parts of the city are still not receiving adequate water supply.

“We called for water tankers on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Monday, we were charged nearly ₹1,500 for 5,000 litres. On Tuesday, the agency said there was huge demand and charged almost ₹4,000 for the same tanker. On Wednesday, the rate was around ₹3,000,” said a PG owner in Sector 46, who requested anonymity. “The same tankers usually cost around ₹1,000 or ₹1,200.”

In Suncity, Sector 54, residents said that adequate water supply is yet to be restored. “We are hoping the situation improves by Thursday morning, but we are still relying on water tankers. Normally, a 5,000-litre tanker costs ₹750 to ₹800, but on Monday, we were charged ₹4,500. On Wednesday, it even went upto ₹5,600,” said Kusum Sharma, chairperson of the Suncity RWA.

A senior GMDA official said that while the water pipeline at WTP Chandu Budhera was restored late Tuesday night, some distant sectors are yet to receive adequate supply. “It usually takes a few more hours for these tail-end sectors to get proper water pressure. The situation is expected to improve gradually by Wednesday night, or by Thursday morning at the latest,” he said.

In Sector 102, residents also raised the issue of water with high TDS levels delivered to them by the water tankers. Sunil Sareen, RWA vice-president at Imperial Gardens, said, “We have spent ₹2 Lakh on water tankers in the last four days. In our society, we have almost 580 families residing. The water tanker companies are not only charging exorbitant prices, but even sending water with high TDS levels.”

A tanker agency supplying water in Sector 46, said that the prices were increased due to unavailability of water across the city. “We even have to send our tankers to get water from far away. This includes additional transportation charges, hence we charge more,” he said, requesting anonymity.

A representative from GPL water supply, operating in Sector 102 , said, “Prices are high due to increased demand, but also because we have to shift and limit supply from some of our regular areas to meet requests from other sectors. If you were a regular customer, I would have still charged the usual rate of 10 paise per litre. On Tuesday, I even sent tankers at 55 paise and 80 paise per litre,” he said.

A senior Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) official said, “We have deployed tankers in sectors 7, 8, 9, 10 and surrounding areas. However, we can only supply individual households and not entire societies, as our fleet is limited,” he said.

To be sure, the shortage began on Friday afternoon after a large valve of the master water pipeline was damaged at the Chandu Budhera plant, leading to flooding of the entire treatment facility. GMDA officials said the iron pipeline was damaged due to a dip in temperature, which caused the pipe to shrink.