Manipur reeling under acute water shortage
Private water tankers may run dry from March
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 15 2023: Even as the State has been reeling under acute water shortage, the situation could worsen from March as many water tank drivers fear that there would be no water left to provide to the public if there is no adequate rain this month.

The Public Health Engineering Department has stopped supplying water through the pipe in many areas of Imphal and this has been the case since December last year.

The water tank drivers whom The Sangai Express interacted with highlighted that there would be no water left to provide to the public from March onward if there is no rainfall.

Today, The Sangai Express went on an inspection tour at the Public Health Engineering Department at Porompat to get a first hand knowledge of how water is being taken by water tankers and interacted with some drivers.

Manipur reeling under acute water shortage

Speaking to this reporter, one of the drivers Kumar Kamei said that they managed to provide water to the public even when the rivers started drying up in the past but the situation has changed considerably since the past year or so due to shortage of rainfall and consequent drying up of Iril River.

"We fear we won't be able to provide water from March onwards if there is no rainfall this month," he added.

As per the water tank driver, they purchase water from PHED by buying a Rs 144 coupon for supplying at different institutions, Government Departments, quar- ters of MLAs and Ministers, hospitals and private individuals.

Stating that the cost of water varies depending on the distance, he added that they charge about Rs 2000 to Rs 3000 per trip if the distance is very far and Rs 1,500 if the consumers are Imphal-based.

Extra charge of about Rs 500 is also taken for a single trip in Imphal too based on certain conditions such as requirement of additional pipes and other factors, he added.

Saying that they can run many trips in a single day if there is enough water in rivers, Kamei continued that supplying even one consumer is difficult these days.

"Apart from the unavailability of water, long queue is another factor which hampers us in our work," he said.

The water from Iril River is being supplied at a small pond inside the PHED complex first and from there the tankers take the water, he said.

The water tank drivers make about Rs 600-700 in a single trip, he informed and maintained that they face many obstacles such as traffic congestions due to improper parking in delivering their services.

The Sangai Express also interacted with the vice president of All Manipur Road Transport Drivers' & Motor Workers' Union Mangoljao Thoudam.

He said that the PHED Porompat supplies water to water tankers from 6 am to 5 pm and about 40 tankers take water from the department daily.

Saying that PHED provides filtered water to the permitted tankers only, Mangoljao continued that the tankers also take water from private establishments at Chingarel, Iroisemba and Bamom Kampu when there is no water at its establishments at Porompat and Koirengei.

The private water suppliers, however, charge more at the rate of Rs 250 per trip and Rs 300 if there is no electricity, he said, adding that for smaller vehicles the price is about Rs 50 to 100 for 1500 litres.

Smaller vehicles charge about Rs 400 to 500 for 1500 litres of water, he added.

One water supplier James Nongthombam said that he takes water from Heingang Ahallup.

Saying that running 10 trips in a day is difficult nowadays, James maintained that he charges about Rs 500 for 1000 litres but the cost increases depending on the distance.

The price of water varies as some drivers charge more, he said and added the consumers don't complain much about the price.