Hyderabad’s water shortage is spreading across peripheral areas, where dry borewells and rising tanker demand have left some households waiting up to four days for deliveries, even though summer has not yet begun. Residents in Nacharam, Mallapur, Moulali, AS Rao Nagar, Qutbullapur and nearby localities said tanker token numbers had reached as high as 300 in some areas.
The shortages are forcing households that previously relied on borewells to book water tankers from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB). Residents said deliveries were not always made on the day of booking, leaving them dependent on private arrangements and personal requests to tanker drivers.
Some residents also alleged that drivers were accepting additional payments to prioritise deliveries. One resident said the HMWS&SB charge for a tanker was ₹500, but households sometimes paid up to ₹1,000 by requesting drivers they knew to move their bookings ahead. The allegation was reported by Deccan Chronicle and was not independently verified in the supplied report.
HMWS&SB officials disputed the extent of the delays. Managing director K. Ashok Reddy said the board was monitoring tanker 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 started. A large share of the bookings was coming from western parts of Hyderabad, the officer said. A tanker supplier’s agent said deliveries were generally completed the same day in areas where token numbers were between 50 and 60, but waiting periods could exceed three days when token numbers reached 300.
Residents of Nacharam and Mallapur said groundwater levels had fallen, forcing them to depend on tankers. Similar shortages were reported in Qutbullapur, while households in Moulali and AS Rao Nagar said several borewells had gone dry. Some borewells in these peripheral areas had recently been recharged, but the report did not establish whether that had restored a reliable supply.
The competing accounts point to a gap between the board’s system-wide delivery assessment and the experience reported by households in specific neighbourhoods. HMWS&SB’s stated 24-hour service standard is measured against residents’ claims of three- to four-day waits, while the high booking volumes indicate that tanker demand is already substantial before the summer season.
The board said it would examine delays in areas where they occurred and take action where necessary. Its automated monitoring system and the distribution of tanker bookings across Hyderabad will determine how quickly the reported backlogs are addressed.
