“Day-to-day life has become full of hassles and more expensive,” says S Chandrakanth, an IT professional residing in Old Bowenpally, when asked about the impact of the drought.

For him and many other urban dwellers, nothing is more precious than water, the availability of which has become almost zero in many residential areas in Hyderabad.

N Hari Prasad, a bank employee in Srinagar Colony, spends ₹4,000 per week on obtaining water for regular usage and also pays ₹35 for 25 litres of drinking water.

Sparse supply A visit to other residential colonies in the city revealed that apartment dwellers are the worst hit, with water supply restricted to a mere 10 minutes in the morning and evening.

There is an acute shortage of drinking water as well as borewell water.

The Hyderabad water board, which supplies drinking water on demand, is taking five to 10 days to supply one tanker from the date of an online request.

That’s because there is a long waiting list, given the acute shortage of water.

Tanker boom For regular use, residents have no option other than to depend on private tanker supplies.

To meet this demand, there has been a mushrooming of private water suppliers in the city during the past six months.

There are now over 300 water suppliers catering to the city’s requirements.

“Water supply is the most lucrative business in the city now, provided you have access to some borewells,” said a Banjara Hills-based private water supplier, who did not want to be identified.

The rate per tanker of 5,500 litres ranges from ₹1,500 to ₹3000 depending on demand, which has been accentuated by the advent of the marriage season.

There are positive things, too; city dwellers have been spared power-cuts. Similarly, there is no shortage of food grains, fruits or vegetables apart from occasional bottlenecks in supply.

“The civil supply scenario is completely under control and there is no shortage of essentials. We are well geared up to face any eventuality due to the drought,” said Rajat Kumar, Commissioner of Civil Supplies, Telangana.

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