KP Sharma

The rain has come, relieving the pressure on the Thromde water section,  the water incharge and, especially the thromde’s tanker driver.

In the last week and before, an acute water shortage in most parts of the capital city made the residents angry with the thromde’s service. 

The thromde’s excuse of “decreased water level at the sources” didn’t go well with residents as they expected the thromde to find immediate solutions.

The thromde can now relax if only the rain continues. An official from the thromde’s water section said the supply has been continuous since 3:30 am on Thursday, May 25.

 “There was not a single call from Babesa, the worst affected area. “We used to receive more than 20 calls a day requesting for our water tankers from Babesa,” he said.

Although the demand was high, the thromde could only supply around 12-15 tankers. The thromde has deployed two tankers to supply water to affected areas.  The water is fetched from Jungshina water treatment plant.

The thromde administration is planning to purchase an additional tanker truck in the coming months.

“If truck dealers could bring the truck 30 days before the June closing, we are looking into the possibility of having an additional tanker to reinforce the existing trucks.”

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the two tanker drivers have been working round the clock to ensure that demands are met. They start working at around 10 am and continue until midnight.

From the looks of the driver, he was overwhelmed. At a site, anxious residents greeting the driver and his assistance were met with cold bodily language, indicating the pressure.

The tanker driver couldn’t speak to Kuensel without the permission of thromde officials. Thromde officials denied the request to interview the driver.

However, the thromde official said that he had instructed the driver to work day and night for the benefit of the community. “Some days, they worked till 2 am.”

The official said that they have encouraged the drivers to keep providing their service on time, but people think that if the city could hire more drivers, it would make things easier for them. 

People say that the drivers look tired and worn out because they work long hours without enough rest.

Since this problem happens every year, residents believe that the municipality should be ready with enough resources instead of depending on a small number of workers. What is more important, according to the people, is to look and prepare to avoid such inconveniences in the future.