‘Sanchari Cauvery' launched to curb private water tanker mafia in Bengaluru

In a significant step towards ensuring affordable and clean drinking water access in Bengaluru, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) launched ‘Sanchari Cauvery’, an initiative to deliver safe drinking water to households using GPS-tracked water tankers.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who launched the ‘Sarvarigu Sanchari Cauvery’ (Mobile Cauvery for All) scheme said that the move aimed to break the monopoly of the private water tanker mafia in the city.

“The city has nearly 3,000 private water tankers and there is a powerful tanker mafia that collects up to ₹3,000 per tanker of water especially during the summer. To address this, we have introduced a transparent scheme providing 4,000 litres at ₹660, 6,000 litres at ₹740 and 12,000 litres at ₹1,290. For deliveries beyond 2 km, an additional amount of ₹50 per km for smaller tankers and ₹70 per km for large tankers will be charged.  The private tankers supply water from unknown sources. But BWSSB will provide clean and tested drinking water,” he declared.

Last summer, an acute water shortage had forced apartment complexes to resort to rationing of water as they were forced to buy tanker water paying exorbitant costs of ₹1500 to ₹6000 per tanker.

Also, out of the 16,781 borewells in the city, only 7,784 were operational, while 6,997 had dried up, forcing the BBMP and BWSSB to identify new sources of water, and re-drill the old and defunct borewells. 

The new scheme is being hailed as the first of its kind in India, as it will have a mobile app and web platform to help consumers book tankers, track deliveries in real time and carry out OTP-based verification of deliveries. The app ‘Kaverionwheels’ is available on Google Play.

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On the occasion, the government also launched another new scheme  ‘Mane Bagilige Sarala Cauvery’ (Cauvery at Your Doorstep), a simplified process to procure a Cauvery water connection by domestic users.

For small houses (built on 600 sqft), residents can obtain the water connection by paying ₹1,000 initially and remaining amount as 12 equal monthly instalments, which will be collected along with water bill, and a service charge of 0.15 per cent. For larger houses and apartment units, 20 percent of the total amount will be collected initially and remaining 80 per cent in 12 EMIs.

The Karnataka government has made it mandatory for all apartment complexes in the city to utilise a Cauvery water connection.

Currently, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board supplies treated Cauvery water to the city’s core under the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme - Stage I, II, III and IV, which has a total installed capacity of 1440 MLD. 

The government commissioned the Cauvery Stage V drinking water project at a cost of ₹4,336 crore in partnership with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to supply piped water to 110 villages in the outskirts of the city. With the Cauvery Water Supply Stage V nearing completion, an additional 775 MLD of water has been added to cater to the drinking water needs of Greater Bengaluru.

However, the reluctance of residential apartments to avail the connection fearing high costs of installation, has posed a challenge to the government as it has spent huge sums of money on the project, and is also incurring a loss of ₹1,000 crore annually.

India