Has HYDRA Started Targeting The Tanker Mafia?

Article by Kumar Published on: 9:16 am, 5 November 2026

With the water tanker strike in Hyderabad coming to an end, HYDRA commissioner Ranganath has now turned his attention towards another major problem in the city that is illegal borewells and the tanker mafia.

Today After resolving the dispute with private water tanker operators, the focus is now towards protecting Hyderabad’s groundwater resources and stopping the illegal extraction of water.

For years, several areas in Hyderabad have depended on private water tankers due to falling groundwater levels and drying borewells and mainly the PGs in IT company areas have been the major customer to these tankers. However, concerns have also been raised about commercial establishments and private operators extracting large amounts of groundwater without proper permissions.

The recent tanker strike has once again highlighted how dependent Hyderabad has become on these private water supply networks. While residents struggled to arrange water for their homes in the last one week due to the strike, questions also emerged about the growing business around groundwater extraction that has gone into a very serious illegal route where the tankers are extracting in water from the already low-levels of groundwater in Hyderabad and are in fact going very deep borewells.

As HYDRAA takes up this issue, it could bring greater attention to the tanker mafia and illegal water extraction businesses operating in the city that have been operating in the city for decades.

The expectation for people is simple. Water should be available at reasonable prices, groundwater should be protected, and illegal operators should not be allowed to exploit the city’s growing water crisis.

With Hyderabad facing increasing pressure on its water resources, action against illegal borewells and tanker operations could become another important challenge for HYDRA.

However, Now HYDRA has the biggest challenge though as compared to its earliest works in related to taking action against the lake encroachments and all, this time if any rapid and quick action taken against these illegal tankers, it could have direct impact on the people as with no tankers available, there would be no water left for these people. It is important to Hydra to now look at this issue very closely as any issue could disrupt the water supply from tankers to the city and many residents could face some serious inconvenience in this regard.