Water crisis looms in Pune as tanker suppliers announce halt of services from April 15

Deaths sparked a reckoning

On April 5, Ariz Shaikh, a 19-year-old student, died after his two-wheeler was struck by an intoxicated tanker driver near NIBM Annex. Two days later, on April 7, Gracia Dora, 22, a resident of Nancy Towers in Wanowrie, was fatally hit by a water tanker while riding her two-wheeler near the bridge by Ganga Satellite Society. She was trapped under the front wheel and later succumbed to her injuries. The back-to-back tragedies prompted traffic police to launch a strict enforcement drive against tanker operators.

Suppliers say selective targeting

With police seizing tankers over pending fitness certificates and other compliance gaps, tanker operators say they have been unfairly singled out. Sushant Lonkar, owner of R. T. Tankers in Kausar Baug, who says there are over 2,000 functioning water tankers in Pune and that the industry had been wrongly vilified following the accidents.

“The loss of life is deeply regrettable. But in the aftermath, all water suppliers were unfairly branded as ‘tanker mafias’. We have not forced any housing society to use specific suppliers, demanded extra payments, or cornered any monopoly. We are providing an essential service that the municipal corporation has consistently failed to deliver,” he said.

Lonkar acknowledged the pending fitness certificates but attributed the backlog to administrative delays rather than wilful non-compliance. “The Regional Transport Office does not currently have the facility to conduct fitness tests, leaving these cases unresolved through no fault of ours. Meanwhile, other heavy vehicles with similar documentation gaps continue to operate. Only water tankers are being targeted,” he said, adding that a single tanker typically makes around 12 trips a day, supplying over one lakh litres in a 24-hour shift. “When tankers are seized, both owners and residents suffer.”

The helper mandate adds to costs

A brief note circulated by tanker owners among housing societies in NIBM Annex and surrounding areas flags an additional pressure point: a new requirement by the police mandating that every tanker be accompanied by a helper. Non-compliance attracts a daily fine of Rs 1,500, adding to operational costs that suppliers say they are already struggling with.

For local residents still grieving the two deaths, the timing of the strike threat has drawn sharp reactions. Jaymala Dhankikar, a social worker and resident of the area, said the operators’ posture was inappropriate given the circumstances.

“Two innocent lives have been lost to rash driving. Instead of showing remorse, these operators are suspending services and using residents as leverage against the administration and police,” she said.

Dhankikar also questioned the absence of any oversight of the sector. “There is no data on how many trips these tankers make daily, where they source their water from, or whether the water they supply meets safe drinking standards. That reflects a failure of the administration as much as anything else. Water is the most essential resource; if operators suspend services in peak summer to press their demands, the administration must revoke their licences and make alternative arrangements.”

“The drivers are often on their phones, or intoxicated, or running vehicles in poor condition with expired registration, insurance, or PUC certificates. The traffic police are right to focus on these violations and should continue doing so,” she added.

A structural issue

Residents across affected areas have consistently pointed out that the proliferation of water tankers is a direct consequence of PMC’s inability to extend water pipelines to newer and peripheral neighbourhoods. Until that gap is bridged, they say, the city will remain hostage to a largely unregulated private water supply network – one that, as the past fortnight has shown, can carry a far higher cost than the price of a tanker trip.