PMC’s failure to monitor water tanker movements sparks concerns over mismanagement
Pune's PMC faces scrutiny after STP water was supplied as drinking water to a housing society. GPS monitoring of water tankers remains ineffective.
Following a recent incident wherein water sourced from a sewage treatment plant (STP) was found to have been supplied as ‘drinking water’ to the upscale Nyati Elysia Housing Society in Kharadi, the issue of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) lacking a water tanker monitoring mechanism has once again come to the fore. This, despite the civic body mandating the installation of GPS systems in water tankers.

It is shocking that a private water tanker vendor supplied STP water to the housing society in Kharadi but it is also true that several residents and housing societies in Pune are left with no option but to rely on private water tankers as the city’s rapid growth has outpaced the PMC’s ability to provide adequate water supply.
Civic activist Vivek Velankar said, “Due to the PMC’s failure to ensure sufficient water supply, many citizens are forced to purchase water from tankers. However, these tankers often do not deliver water to the designated places, instead selling it to construction sites or other buyers. A few years ago, we pressured the PMC to make GPS installation mandatory for all water tankers so that their movements could be monitored.”
“While the PMC did mandate GPS installation after our follow-ups, it failed to set up a mechanism for monitoring tanker movements. Each tanker filling point has an employee present. If the PMC provides these employees access to GPS data on their mobile phones and tasks them with monitoring the tankers’ movements, it could curb water theft. Tankers would also be compelled to refill water only from designated points, as this data could be cross-verified by citizens,” Velankar said.
A tanker operator, speaking anonymously, said, “We installed the GPS system as instructed by the PMC, and it has helped us monitor our drivers. However, the PMC is not utilising this technology to track tanker movements. It should assign someone to oversee where the tankers are filling water and where it is being delivered. Most authorised tankers do not refill from STPs and around 90% of the operators conduct business genuinely. But a few engage in unethical practices, and the PMC must take action against them.”
PMC water department head Nand Kishore Jagtap acknowledged the issue and said, “It is a serious matter if tanker operators are supplying STP water as potable water. We have decided to implement a colour-coding system for water tankers. Only green-coloured tankers will be permitted to transport STP water, while potable water will be supplied exclusively from our designated tanker points.”
