The Hindu : Karnataka News : Bangalore heading for water crisis

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 24, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Bangalore heading for water crisis

By Divya Sreedharan

BANGALORE, APRIL 23. Water woes could worsen in Bangalore this summer. Citizens have been more or less comfortable so far but the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWWSB) has reportedly been informed that it may have to transport water by train from sources other than the present mainstay, the Kabini.

Sources disclosed to The Hindu that BWSSB officers were told this at one of their fortnightly meetings with officials of the Water Resources Department. "It was hinted that the board might have to transport water through tankers or by train from the Krishna," sources said. Bangalore consumes 1.1tmcft. (thousand million cubic feet) of water a month. The BWSSB pumps 840-860 million litres per day (MLD) to the city, but of this, 20 per cent is lost and another 15 to 17 per cent is considered "non-revenue water."

The BWSSB not only supplies water to houses and industries, but also provides it to 7,800 public taps. "The city has around 15,500 public taps, but the board supplies water to only half of these on the city corporation's specific request," sources said. According to them, the other taps are illegal.

Still, Bangalore's water situation had been more or less comfortable, they pointed out. Last month, it was revealed that Hubli-Dharwad got water once in eight days. While the state of affairs was better in Mysore and surrounding areas, they too were acutely short of water. In Chamarajanagar town, the water crisis has reached such proportions that it has become an election issue.

As of now, the BWSSB has no contingency plans if supply from the Kabini is stopped. There was not much water at the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam either, sources said. "Right now, the BWSSB puts in daily requests to the Water Resources Department (for release of Kabini water)."

The problem is that all other sources of water for Bangalore have dried up. The Thippagondanahalli Reservoir has not been used for nearly one-and-a-half years. Hessarghatta Lake too has been dry for months now. The BWSSB maintains that it can mange till the middle of May. "After that, the situation is uncertain," sources said. Last year, Bangalore lost millions of litres of water because farmers allegedly siphoned off the water meant for the city. "This year, that has not happened yet because the BWSSB engineers, along with the police, have been patrolling the 100-km. Cauvery water pipeline," they said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka