In Chennai, private tankers would go on strike
Posted on: 22/May/2019 9:47:39 AM
There are many people belonging to Chennai city and its peripheries who get water by the water tankers that supply water. Soon this would be stopped. It is now revealed that from Monday private tankers would resort to an indefinite strike. This could result in Chennai and its peripheries going dry.
Recently, the government had cracked down on the tankers drawing water from private farm lands in Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts. It must be noted that on Tuesday a meeting was held and in the meeting the decision regarding the water tankers indefinite strike was taken by the water tankers association.
Following action taken by the revenue inspectors and village administrators in places like Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur, the number of trips made by the private tankers has come down. This was according to Mr. Nijalingam who is the president of Private Tankers Lorry Owners Association. The important information is the pump sets were seized and damaged by the officials in Kandigai and Keerapakkam villages in Kancheepuram. In Thiruvallur few lorrys were seized by the officials. It was pointed out by Mr. Nijalingam that the officials were demanding permission letters issued by the government for allowing the tankers to draw water.
As per the district revenue officials it is clear that the higher officials have directed them to take action against bore wells that were sunk to draw water for commercial purposes from agricultural land. The point is private tankers are now drawing water from more than 200 villages.
Mr. Nijalingam later spoke about how a fortnight back the private water tankers were allowed to supply water in the Chennai city. It is worthy to mention that with the district officials cracking down on the tankers the water supply would be affected in places like OMR, ECR etc. Apart from these places few other places in Chennai would also be affected.
The important information collected is the water shortage crisis in Chennai has been taken into advantage and the association is putting pressure on the government to fulfill the demands such as permanent license for the private operators to draw water from the farmlands present in Chennai, Kancheepuram and in Tiruvallur districts. Other demands made are exempting the tankers from paying tolls and providing loans etc. It is known that many residents belonging to OMR depend on these private water tankers to get water. It is now said that these residents were shocked by this indefinite strike news.
