As mercury rises, water tanker price shoots up in outer zones of Bengaluru

Water tanker prices in Bengaluru surge as Cauvery V Stage coverage remains sparse, with groundwater levels plummeting and demand rising.

With the Cauvery V Stage coverage still sparse in the outer zones, the dependence on water tankers has only grown in Bengaluru, and likewise, its price.

As summer heats up, the price of a load of 12,000 litres of water, which was in the range of ₹1,000 to ₹1,200 (which is also the price cap fixed by the civic administration in the summer of 2024) has shot up to ₹1,500 to ₹1,700 already, with at least two more months to go before the next monsoon. The price is only expected to go up further, sources in the water tanker business said.

Venkatesh Chandrappa, a water tanker owner at Bellandur, said he is charging ₹1,480 for a tanker load of 12,000 litres of water to multiple apartments but has asked for a revision of price from April. “We are going as far as Muttenalluru, 30 km from Bengaluru’s periphery, to fetch water from borewells, as most of the borewells on the city’s outskirts are drying up. The cost of the extraction of water, even from borewells that are far from the city, is only increasing. Moreover, since the groundwater levels are plummeting even there, we can extract only four or five loads a day, as against over 10 loads otherwise. All these have added up to the cost,” he explained, suggesting that groundwater level has already plummeted.

Mr. Chandrappa explained that while he has lost the regular bulk customers — apartment complexes — to Cauvery V Stage, that was only about 25% of his customer base, and the rest were yet to take the Cauvery connection. “Even those who have taken the Cauvery connection do not trust it completely to call off our contracts. They have only reduced the quantum,” he said.

Jagadish Reddy, a resident of Varthur, said the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) was yet to give a single connection in their village. “The supply network hasn’t been laid yet. It is stuck in land acquisition issues. The BWSSB has instead built a temporary tank of 75,000 litres. However, the number of tankers servicing residents from this tank is so low that we have had to rely on private tankers, who charge exorbitant rates,” he said, adding that even the borewells maintained by the civic body being handed over to the BWSSB were fast drying up and this would only worsen the situation.

The BWSSB and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) conducted a study in January 2025 and warned that groundwater levels will plummet up to 25 m in some areas in March and April. The study had identified 80 wards, including 110 villages, as severely prone to this problem.

“We had warned the people that groundwater levels are expected to go down in summer and appealed to them to avail of the Cauvery connection. But many are yet to do so,” said BWSSB chairman V. Ram Prasath Manohar.