By Jitendra
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In rural areas of [Marathwada in Maharashtra], the government provides water through tankers. There are some villages which get water from more than 100 kilometres (km) away despite the fact that a major water reservoir is located within a radius of 25-30 km.
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Recently, the government increased the rate of tankers without any significant demand. It seems to be an arbitrary decision to help tanker contractors to make more money. The rate of tankers increased from Rs 2 to Rs 4.30 per km. Besides, the everyday charge of tankers increased from Rs 158 to Rs 338 based on different capacities.
According to the disaster management unit of Aurangabad division, 1,050 tankers were deployed in Marathwada till the end of January, 2019. The number would go up by 5,000 by the month of May. The current budget allocation for tanker supply is around Rs 50 crore. As the number of tankers would increase in coming days, the budget would also shoot up.
The business of tankers is not confined to government supply. Private players are also emerging in municipal areas.
There are many people in municipal areas hiring private tankers to meet out their need. They may cough up more than the government’s fixed price.
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