Bengaluru water crisis: How an auto driver helped man source tankers for his Whitefield apartment

Anirud C was travelling in an autorickshaw from Whitefield metro station to his home when he decided to strike a conversation with the driver. (Representational image: Unsplash)

Anirud C  was on his way home from Whitefield metro station last week when he happened to ask his auto driver if he too has been facing a water shortage. The 28-year-old lawyer, who lives with his parents and two dogs in an apartment in Whitefield, was looking for a private water tanker supplier and it suddenly occurred to him to bring this matter up with the auto driver.

"As I was heading home after dinner on Sunday, I casually asked my auto driver if he had a water crisis. He said no as he has bore wells. He even connected me to a tanker supplier," Anirud told Moneycontrol.

The resident of a 3BHK in Surakshaa Fair View Apartment said that despite the water shortage in Bengaluru over the last few years, this is the first time that the residents have been affected by it. "Historically, we have never experienced any water crisis or rely on water tankers. This year, around February we began to face water shortage and by the end of the month, we figured out that this may become a bigger problem and all of us (the apartment residents) began to look for a supplier. And on March 5, I came across the auto driver," Anirud said.

Other residents also managed to get in touch with a second supplier and now, the apartment complex -- which has 108 units -- is getting its water supply replenished regularly for Rs 2,600 per tanker.

Speaking about how they are limiting water use amid the shortage, Anirud said that he and his family have been using the waste water from RO purifier to clean the house.

Meanwhile, amid the worsening water shortage in Bengaluru and the temperature inching toward 40 degrees Celsius, there has been a growing call for companies to switch to work from home and for educational institutes to resume online classes to save water and reduce the burden on employees and students.

Several citizens and citizen groups have taken to social media to ask Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to make work from home mandatory for IT companies and to allow children to take online classes from home. If the strategy has worked during Covid, it'll work during the water crisis as well, they said.

Read more: Bengaluru water crisis: Posh gated community asks residents to use disposable plates, wet wipes