Karnataka - Bangalore   

‘5 p.c. of middle-class have rainwater harvesting units’

BANGALORE: About 80 per cent of middle-class people in Bangalore do not know that the sources of piped water to the city are the Cauvery and the Arkavathy. The percentage goes up to 88 among low income groups.

As much as 63 per cent from low income groups do not even know the existence of these rivers and only 24 per cent know that the Cauvery was one of the sources. Among the middle-class, 92 per cent do not know how far water travels to reach the city.

About 35 per cent from the low income groups still depend on public taps and hand pumps for their daily supply of water, while only 5 per cent of the educated middle-class have rainwater harvesting system in their houses.

These figures were made public here on Thursday from a survey relating to “water literacy” conducted by the Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA). The survey covered about 3,000 households from both the middle-class and the low income groups across the city. It was carried out in September and October. About 60 per cent of respondents were women.

While Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) spent Rs. 18 per kilolitre to bring water to the city, 88 per cent among the middle-class did not know that they paid only Rs. 6 per kilolitre.

While sewage in the city is supposed to flow into sanitary lines, over 65 per cent from both income groups said that used water flowed into roadside or storm water drains.

Open wells, an important source of water 50 years ago, have gradually slipped into neglect and are no longer used for consumption or for groundwater recharge, the survey found.

Of the respondents interviewed who did have open wells, only 13 per cent from low income groups and 42 per cent among the middle-class used water from the wells.

Most said that the quality of water from wells was not good. The survey has revealed that the level of formal education had nothing to do with the level of awareness on water and its uses, said a member of CMCA.

Giving details of the findings after interviewing many government officials, the students, in their presentation, said that no department was responsible for the indiscriminate use of groundwater and that the BWSSB could not increase the price of water because the issue was politically sensitive.

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