Water Supply from Tankers Stopped in Bandikui, Payment Pending

BANDIKUI। The potable water supply through tankers provided by the Jalday Department in Bandikui city has been stopped since Tuesday. Contractors have halted the water supply due to long pending payments, raising concerns of a deepening drinking water crisis in several colonies.

The Jalday Department supplies drinking water to about 6500 consumers in the city and surrounding areas. Due to water shortage, the department used to deliver approximately 320,000 liters of water daily to the pumphouse through private tankers. This supply from around 80 tankers helped maintain water supply in the city every third day.

Contractor Lakshminarayan Joshi stated that their payments have been pending since April 2025. Despite submitting bills and written requests, no payment has been made. Daily payments for tanker drivers and diesel are required, so continuing work without payment is not possible. He said, "Our payments have been pending since April 2025."

It has also become difficult to cover the operational costs of the tankers because the tractors used to deliver water along with the tankers incur daily diesel expenses. Due to this compulsion, tanker operations had to be stopped. The contractor has said that supply will not resume until the pending amount is received.

With the tanker supply stopped, the water supply gap could extend to four to five days. Currently, the department's main options are the tubewells of the Ban Ganga river, but low rainfall is also causing difficulties in their recharge.

Assistant Engineer of the Jalday Department, Harish Saini, said, "The payment proposal has been sent to higher authorities and efforts are being made to ensure prompt payment."