Hyderabad water tankers: 2.2 lakh booked in October against 87,000 a year earlier as monsoon rain falls 34% short

Bookings for Hyderabad water tankers reached about 2.2 lakh in October 2026, a level the city’s Water Board usually sees only in the summer months. In October 2025 the figure was about 87,000.

Since the start of October, more than 7,000 tankers have gone out every day. In a normal rainy season the Board handles 1,500 to 2,000 bookings a day. In the IT corridor around Madhapur, Gachibowli and TNGOs Colony, each filling station is now sending out 250 to 300 tankers daily. Borewells in many houses and apartment blocks have slowed or run dry, so residents have little choice but to book.

A 34% shortfall in the monsoon

The rush follows a weak monsoon. From June to September, Hyderabad district received 488.3 mm of rain where 745.1 mm is normal, a deficit of 34%, data from the Telangana State Development Planning Society shows. Medchal-Malkajgiri was 39% short, Vikarabad 32%, Yadadri Bhongir 30%, Rangareddy 28% and Sangareddy 25%. A duty officer at the IMD’s Hyderabad centre said El Nino was among the causes, along with high temperatures in the peak monsoon months.

The city has been getting piped water once every three days since late October. On Thursday, 5 November, GHMC said parks, colony open spaces and road medians would no longer be watered with drinking water. Its own 50-60 tankers will now haul recycled water drawn from sewage plants.

Hostels are feeling the squeeze. Operators in Gachibowli, Ameerpet and Kukatpally say tanker prices have doubled, and students and private employees have moved out of several hostels where supply failed.

Village water works from January

Outside the city, the state is preparing for a dry summer. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy told officials on Thursday, 5 November, in a Secretariat review that a six-month drive running January through June 2027 will desilt and repair small irrigation tanks, ponds, canals and the channels that feed them in every village. A list of 355 types of work is ready. Most of it will run under the rural employment guarantee scheme, and the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development departments will draw up the action plan.