Hyderabad’s water shortage is worsening in several peripheral areas, where dry borewells and reported tanker delays are forcing households to wait up to four days for supplies, even as the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) says most bookings are being served within 24 hours.
Residents in Nacharam, Mallapur and nearby areas said borewell levels had fallen and tanker token numbers had reached 300 in some locations. They said deliveries were not taking place on the day of booking, leaving households dependent on private arrangements and repeated follow-ups with tanker operators.
Some residents also alleged that tanker drivers were accepting additional payments to prioritise certain locations. One resident said the HMWS&SB charges ₹500 for a tanker, but households sometimes pay up to ₹1,000 by approaching drivers personally to secure an earlier delivery. The allegation was reported by Deccan Chronicle and was not independently established in the supplied report.
The reported delays contrast with the water board’s official position. HMWS&SB managing director K. Ashok Reddy said the board was monitoring bookings and deliveries through an automated messaging system. “There is no waiting period, and water tankers are delivered within 24 hours. If there are delays in certain areas, we will inquire into the reasons and take action,” he said.
An officer responsible for tanker supplies said the board was receiving nearly 15,000 bookings a day, despite summer not having begun. The officer said a large share of the demand was coming from western parts of Hyderabad. A tanker supplier’s agent said deliveries were being made on the same day in areas where token numbers were between 50 and 60, but added that token numbers in Erragadda and SR Nagar could reach 300 during summer, leading to waiting periods of more than three days.
Residents of Qutbullapur have also reported shortages and delays. In peripheral areas including Moulali and AS Rao Nagar, several households said their borewells had dried up, although some recently recharged. The uneven status of borewells across neighbourhoods is adding pressure to the tanker network, particularly in areas where piped supply is insufficient or households rely on groundwater for daily use.
The emerging conflict between reported household-level delays and the board’s claim of delivery within 24 hours points to a service-monitoring challenge: booking data may not fully reflect the time taken for delivery in each locality. The board’s automated messaging system is intended to track this process, but the supplied report does not establish whether the system publicly records waiting times, cancellations, repeat bookings or complaints about prioritisation.
HMWS&SB has said it will investigate delays in specific areas and take action where required. With nearly 15,000 tanker bookings already being recorded each day, the immediate operational focus remains on monitoring deliveries and addressing delays before the seasonal rise in demand described by suppliers and residents.
