The BBMP has decided to make trade licenses compulsory for private water tankers in the wake of complaints about tanker owners charging hefty prices during summer.

On Friday, the BBMP commissioner announced that the Palike will make licenses compulsory. “The private water tankers should specify the source of the water,” said Manjunath Prasad, BBMP commissioner.

He also said the tariffs for water tankers would be announced in two days. “A separate committee is working on the tariffs," said Prasad. "The tariffs are determined based on various factors including water supply area, the location of the source of water, the type of vehicle, type of fuel and so on. Based on this, exact tariffs will be set,” said Prasad, adding two weeks' time will be given for tankers to procure licences.

To tackle the shortage, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) will deploy around 68 water tankers while the BBMP said it would deploy 267 water tankers in 110 villages under its jurisdiction.

According to BBMP officials, Bengaluru and other districts of Karnataka are going to require 10 TMC of water in the next three months. In other words, every month, Bengaluru requires at least 1.58 TMC of water. The civic bodies are going to draw about 25.5 TMC of water from the KRS and Kabini reservoirs.

The BBMP is also planning to redrill the existing borewells as demanded by council’s opposition leader, Padmanabha Reddy. Prasad said that strict action would be taken against those who use water tankers for the election promotions.

“If water tankers are pasted with photos or banners, we will take action,” he said.