The Pune Municipal Corporation plans to launch a water tanker booking app within two months to regulate private tanker services and curb overcharging as water cuts increase demand across the city and its newly added villages.
The proposed system will allow residents to request tankers through an online platform similar to a cab-booking app. The civic body is also expected to provide information on tanker availability, vehicle numbers, drivers and the officials responsible for the service. The plan was confirmed by Nandkishor Jagtap, chief engineer of the PMC water supply department, in a report by Sakal.
Residents in Pune’s old municipal limits and merged villages are currently paying between Rs 700 and Rs 1,200 per tanker, according to the report. The PMC is preparing the system to bring greater transparency to bookings and prevent operators from charging excessive rates during periods of scarcity.
The proposed app follows a system already being used to supply water tankers to 104 housing societies in Sus and Mhalunge. Under that arrangement, a society’s chairperson places a tanker request through the platform. The system then communicates the expected delivery time based on availability and sends the tanker and driver details along with a one-time password.
Once the tanker reaches the society and supplies the water, the recipient provides the OTP to the driver, completing the transaction. The existing arrangement has received a response because it reduces the scope for informal payments and gives housing societies a record of the booking and delivery process.
The PMC had begun examining an app-based system around six months earlier, before the issue was set aside after the city’s dams reached full capacity in July. The municipal corporation has now restarted the process as concerns over water availability return. The tender process for the new service is expected to begin after the model code of conduct for the Legislative Council election ends.
The announcement comes amid a 10 per cent water cut imposed in Pune over the past two weeks. The civic body has also continued a weekly cut on Thursdays. According to the report, the cuts are intended to help the PMC save at least 2.30 TMC of water over the next nine months if the schedule continues.
The PMC has linked the restrictions to lower water availability in the Khadakwasla reservoir system compared with the previous year and the possibility of further losses through evaporation during hot weather. The report also attributes the wider water stress to a reduced monsoon associated with El Niño conditions.
The planned app is expected to cost the municipal corporation around Rs 35 lakh over three years. The system’s immediate purpose is to make tanker demand more orderly, disclose service information and reduce the risk of residents being charged different rates during water shortages.
Jagtap said residents would be able to register tanker requests through the app within two months, after the tendering and implementation process is completed.
