Come and see the theft of water on the streets of a thirsty city

times of india, chennai edition, 28/05/09, page no.3
Come and see the theft of water on the streets of a thirsty city
Vivek Narayanan | TNN

Chennai: Around noon, as the summer sun beats down mercilessly, a regular trade is on at Kamarajar Salai in K K Nagar. A woman sits on a stone near a sintex tank, waiting. Soon, a bullock cart carrying a tank halts near her. The cart driver fills his tank with water from the sintex tank, gives the woman Rs 30 and drives off.
The ‘trade,’ which has been going on in K K Nagar for the past several months has now spread to areas like Tondiarpet and Mylapore and even to commercial localities, including T Nagar.
The water in the sintex tank is supplied by the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) or Metrowater to places where there is no proper piped water supply. There are 2,200 such tanks in the city; most of them located near slums.
“The water filled in tanks on bullock carts is supplied to hotels in various parts of the city,” said Gopalakrishnan of the Federation of Anti-Corruption Teams (FACT) India.
A bullock cartdrawn tank can carry 18 buckets of water and for each tank, the driver pays Rs 30 to the person who steals water from the sintex tank. The driver then sells the water to hotels and other commercial establishments for Rs 75 per tank.
“The water is filled in the tanks in accordance with the demand for the particular area. When the water is pilfered thus from tanks and sold outside, the residents are left with no water. As such, one family gets only two or three buckets a day,” said Mugilan of K K Nagar.
A senior Metrowater official, pointing out that such “sale” was illegal, said: “We have two teams to keep track of the supply and distribution of water. They have been issuing spot fines too. We will look into the issue and stop the supply of water till this pilferage is curtailed.”

BLATANT THEFT: 1) A man comes on a bullock-cart with a barrel to a Metrowater public water tank on Kamarajar Salai in K K Nagar, where a woman is waiting. 2) She fills cans of water for the man. 3) He fills the barrel and leaves within a few minutes after paying the woman Rs 30