The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : BWSSB to prepare database of public borewells in Bangalore

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Saturday, Mar 22, 2008
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BWSSB to prepare database of public borewells in Bangalore

Swathi Shivanand

The project will locate the borewells, photograph them and test water quality

The exercise can help remove sources
of pollution in groundwater
Unsafe borewells will sport a ‘caution board’
as warning for public

BANGALORE: Groundwater is an important water source that a significant section of Bangalore is dependent on. Individuals who sink borewells and who get the water tested are aware of the quality of the groundwater they consume but not those who have to rely on public borewells. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), the agency responsible for maintaining public borewells in the city, has decided to undertake an exercise to create a database of these borewells.

Identification

The project, likely to take off next month, will identify the location of the public borewells, photograph them and test their water quality to ensure the water is potable. Borewells found unsafe for drinking purposes will then sport a “caution board” to dissuade people from using them.

Public borewells form an important supply source for the poor in the city who rarely have adequate access to clean, drinking water.

Dug over the last 20 years by different agencies such as Karnataka Slum Clearance Board, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the erstwhile city municipal councils, the responsibility for the maintenance now lies with the BWSSB. Until now, the water board only just tested the water quality of the public borewells when it received complaints.

The water board will outsource the work to three private accredited laboratories, one for two of its divisions. Tenders have been received for the project estimated to cost about Rs. 73 lakh. A few months after the process of creating a database is completed, the agencies will take up random testing, about 25 to 30 samples in a month, to re-check the water quality.

Rough estimate

“We think that there are roughly about 6,000 to 7,000 borewells in the BBMP limits. But we want to get a clearer idea of the number and how many of them are potable,” R. Vasudevan, Chief Engineer (Cauvery) told The Hindu.

On why private laboratories are being entrusted with the task, he said that the laboratory run by the BWSSB does not have accreditation while the ones run by Mines and Geology and Public Health Institute test water quality, but they don’t collect samples.

Creating a database such as this might also lead to identification of exact locations where groundwater gets polluted and the concentration of any particular chemicals in these areas, he said. This information could lead to eliminating the sources of pollution. This much-needed initiative by the BWSSB comes after groundwater pollution was found to be one of the reasons for outbreak of gastroenteritis at Bharathinagar recently. “We were earlier planning to do a survey in Greater Bangalore area only. But after the Bharathinagar incident, we decided to take it up in central areas also,” Mr. Vasudevan said.

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