Pune Municipal Corporation to launch app for booking water tankers at fixed rates

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is preparing to launch a mobile app within the next two months, as demand for water tankers rises amid the water cut. Residents will be able to book a water tanker at transparent rates through the app, much like booking a cab. The aim is to stop private tanker operators from charging extra.

Residents of the old city limits and the newly included villages currently have to pay Rs 700 to Rs 1,200 for a tanker. The civic body has received complaints that some operators charge far more. It has therefore decided to introduce a booking system, and hopes this will bring the service under control and make payments more open.

The administration has begun work on the app. The idea was first floated about six months ago, but was put on hold in July after the city's dams filled to capacity. The PMC has taken it up again as concern over water availability has returned.

Nandkishore Jagtap, chief engineer of the PMC's water supply department, said the tender process had been delayed by the model code of conduct for the Legislative Council elections. It will begin once the code is lifted. The project is estimated to cost about Rs 35 lakh over three years.

The new app will be based on a system already in use, which supplies tankers to 104 housing societies in Sus and Mahalunge. The platform was built by a private company. It records tanker registration numbers, driver details and information on PMC officials.

Under the current system, society chairpersons enter their water requirement in the app. They then learn whether a tanker is available and how long it will take to arrive. They also receive the tanker's registration number, the driver's contact number and a one-time password (OTP). The transaction is completed only when the OTP is given to the driver after the water is delivered. This allows supply to be monitored and fixes accountability.

The PMC is considering extending the same system across the city. This would make tanker booking more transparent and reduce the chance of residents being charged extra.

Meanwhile, because of concern over stocks, the PMC has imposed a 10 per cent water cut in Pune city. Supply is reduced every Thursday.

The Khadakwasla dam chain, which supplies the city, holds less water than it did at this time last year, by a margin of up to 3.5 billion cubic feet (TMC). Rising temperatures and evaporation could reduce the available stock further.

According to the PMC, if the cuts continue in their present form, at least 2.30 TMC of water can be saved over the next nine months. The civic body said the app is being introduced because demand for private tankers is likely to rise, so that residents can book easily and the tanker service remains more transparent.