As the temperature rose, Bengaluru saw a spike in demand for water tankers. The growing demand for tankers has led to a large rise in their pricing, in addition to the problem of groundwater quality.

The need for water tankers in the region has allegedly increased as a result of the borewells in Bengaluru’s outskirts drying up due to the temperature already reaching 34 degrees Celsius.

With peak summer yet to come, the cost of a shipment of 12,000 liters of water has already skyrocketed to 1,500 to 1,700. According to The Hindu, in the summer of 2024, the city authority set a rice ceiling of 1,000 to 1,200 rupees for the same amount of water.

The Reason for the Price Increase

According to the research, tank owners must travel further distances to get water because neighboring borewells are becoming depleted. According to reports, Venkatesh Chandrappa, the owner of a 12,000-liter water tank at 1480, said that they could not even draw out the necessary quantity of water.

Since the majority of the borewells on the outskirts of Bengaluru are drying up, we are traveling as far as Muttenalluru, which is 30 km from the city’s edge, to get water from them. Even from borewells located distant from the city, the cost of extracting water keeps going up. Furthermore, we can only remove four or five loads each day instead of the usual ten loads since the groundwater levels are falling even there. The Hindu quoted him as saying, “All of these have contributed to the cost.”

Although residents have switched from tankers to Cauvery water, Chandrappa told the media outlet that they haven’t been able to completely trust the quality. “Not even those who have chosen the Cauvery link have enough faith in it to terminate our agreements. According to the article, he said, “They have only decreased the quantity they purchase.”

According to a January 2025 research by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the BWSSB, groundwater levels may fall by as much as 25 meters in some locations in March and April. According to the survey, 110 villages and 80 wards were deemed to be at high risk.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Chairman, V. Ram Prasath Manohar, was cited in the newspaper as saying, “We had warned residents that groundwater levels would decline in summer and urged them to get a Cauvery connection, but many are yet to do so.”