Tanker operators say they cannot promise water supply as the bore wells are also drying up. “We have to wait for two hours to fill one tanker. If we made 10 trips earlier, it has come down to four. Now the demand for water has doubled, but we are not able to supply water to all of them,” said Nitin Nanaware, a tanker operator who supplies water to around 15 housing societies . At Sarvodaya Cooperative Housing Society, members were used to 24 hours water supply till recently; now they have to make do with a one-hour supply. “We get water supply for 20 minutes to half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon,” said a member from the society.

The situation is quite bleak at Koregaon Park where many housing societies have put locks on the motor so that members cannot switch it on at will.

Municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade said the corporation was meeting on Thursday to finalise a comprehensive plan to tackle the water scarcity. “I have asked for detailed information on the number of water connections in the city and how many societies are illegally tapping into the city water,” he said. Clearly, the one segment that is benefiting from the ongoing water shortage are the bottled water manufacturers. “We have recorded an increase of 15-20 per cent in revenue since June 15. Normally, the monsoon is an off-season, but this time we are doing good business,” said Shekhar Mundada, president of the Maharashtra Bottled Water Association.

... contd.