Bangalore: The city, which gets around 860 million litres a day (MLD) of water from the Cauvery, now may get an additional 510 MLD when the Stage IV of Cauvery Water Supply Scheme is completed by 2012.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is gearing to implement Stage IV of the scheme and the process of calling global tenders has begun.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will provide financial assistance of Rs. 2,830 crores as a project loan to BWSSB; the cost is estimated to touch Rs. 3,384 crores and the balance is to be shared by the board and the State Government.

The board recently advertised in overseas media inviting "expression of interest" in executing the Cauvery water project. The responding organisations will be short-listed before tenders are called and other project specifications are announced.

Under the water sharing agreement between States utilising water from the Cauvery, the State gets 1,469 MLD of water to meet the needs of Bangalore city. As of now, the city is using 930 MLD of water from the Cauvery. The present agreement will end by 2010 and to meet additional requirements after that, Karnataka will ask for an enhanced quota for the city besides seriously considering other sources. Although some supplies come from the Thippagondanahalli and Hessaraghatta reservoirs, they cannot significantly add to the availability. The board has made projections for the next decade based on average population growth; by 2011, the city's population may be close to 7 million. The present per capita availability of water is 105 litres, which may slip to 80 litres unless capacity is added from different sources, including the Cauvery. The implementation of Stage IV becomes important in this context. The board is planning to reduce "unaccounted for water" from the present average of 36 per cent to a manageable 15 per cent.

The scheme will cover outlying areas and satellite towns such as Byatarayanapura, Bommanahalli, Rajarajeswari Nagar, Yelahanka, Dasarahalli, Krishnarajapuram and Kengeri. The project has additional components, which include water supply and sanitary connections to those living in 362 notified slums in the city. Meanwhile, the Greater Bangalore Water Supply Project, which will use 135 MLD more of water, is likely to be completed by year-end.

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