India, Oct. 2 -- The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is struggling with rising expenditure on supplying free water tankers across the city, with costs tripling over the last six years. While the administration has once again considered charging a fee for tanker services to curb excessive demand, the idea in the past has repeatedly been put on hold due to political compulsions and the upcoming civic elections.

As per records, the civic body spent Rs.16 crore on free tanker services in 2019-20. The figure rose steadily year after year, touching Rs.19 crore in 2020-21, Rs.30 crore in 2021-22, Rs.31.98 crore in 2022-23, Rs.37.83 crore in 2023-24, and Rs.48.83 crore in 2024-25. In total, PMC has spent nearly Rs.184 crore on free tankers over...