The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Whither water?

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Thursday, Feb 07, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Whither water?

Swathi Shivanand

‘We cook chapathis often because rice requires more water’

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Woes of Devarajeevanhalli: All pot, no water.

BANGALORE: Singaru Manjula and her family pay Rs. 100 a week for drinking water. Ms. Manjula fears that water prices will increase in summer, from Rs. 3 to Rs. 4 a pot. “We cook chapathis often because rice requires more water. Sometimes, when we cannot get any water, we go to hotels to eat,” she says.

Manjula, along with 2,499 other residents of the areas comprising Devarajeevanahalli slum, were promised regular water supply at their doorstep by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) in 2003. Most taps in Doddananagar, where Manjula lives, have been dry for four years.

Incidentally, World Vision, a non-governmental organisation, paid Rs. 7 lakh to the BWSSB to provide water connections to 2,500 people.

At a time when reports are pouring in about a large number of people from the poorer sections of society, particularly Bharathinagar and Neelasandra, being afflicted with gastroenteritis because of contaminated water, citizens are asking a crucial question: what has BWSSB, the sole authorised provider of drinking water since 1964, done to ensure safe water for the poor?

By BWSSB’s own admission in its website, the only project taken up for the urban poor was in 2003 to provide individual water connections to 25 slums in the city.

People who depend on this say the same project never succeeded in its objective to provide them drinking water.

“We got water regularly for six months when it was launched in 2003. And then it stopped. Now we have only the pipes, but no water,” says Mary Ekambaran, a resident of Doddannanagar slum.

Since the BWSSB provided direct lines to each house, the public taps that were earlier serving the purpose were removed.

Now that the project has failed, the BWSSB is providing water through tankers that residents say is not suitable for drinking.

“We use the water only for bathing or washing clothes. They give us only three pots per family three days a week. For drinking water, we go all the way to Tannery Road, a few km away,” says Selvi Vincent, another resident.

Adds Kavitha: “We spend our nights travelling to get water as we work during the day. We pay an extra Rs. 50 for transporting water or we carry the pots in bicycles.” In 2007, a study conducted in 10 of the 25 slums by Association of Promoting Social Action (APSA) shows that 75 per cent of the people expressed unhappiness about the scheme.

“People said that the scheme was unaffordable as they received bills running to hundreds of rupees even when there was no regular water supply. Their problems were exacerbated because the BWSSB had removed public taps that were their earlier source of water supply,” said P. Lakshapthi, executive director of APSA.

The BWSSB has not carried any assessment of the scheme even after four years. Its excuse: the official who headed the Social Development Unit which is in charge of the programme has been transferred and no replacement has been found yet.

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