The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Tempers rise as residents cope with water shortage

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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Tempers rise as residents cope with water shortage

Swathi Shivanand

The BWSSB is bogged down by an ever-increasing demand for water; power cuts during summer add to the problem

Demand for water in summer goes up by at least 10 per cent
Of the 10,000-odd open wells in the city, only about 1,000 are functioning

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Endless wait: Come summer and pots lining up at public water taps will be a common sight in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: The city is used to protests on a host of issues. In summer, yet another hot topic is added to the list: water, or the lack of it. Many who are indifferent to public protests of any kind are ready to take to the streets if their taps run dry.

The water crises that summer brings along with it are powerful indicators of the city’s unsustainable water management through the year. The stories are the same and miseries compound as the shortages hit people lower on the economic scale.

Erratic supply

Sharada works as a domestic help in a few houses to earn her living. For her, summer has announced its arrival when she has to start her fighting routine with the “borewell people.” As water from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is erratic through the year, supplied perhaps twice a week, she has to meet the family’s needs by buying water from a family that has a borewell on their premises.

“But even they put up their price during summer saying that there is no water in their borewell. They also begin to charge more than the usual Re.1 a pot,” says Sharada.

And on days that BWSSB releases piped water, people from the huts nearby also come clamouring for water. “We live in a building that houses 14 families. There are about 100 huts nearby. When we get water from the BWSSB, people from these huts come and ask us for water,” says Sharada.

Borewell supply

Bommanahalli is hit by water shortage. With no BWSSB water supply, the mostly working class residents are dependent on water supplied from borewells owned by the former city municipal councils.

“Private borewells are dug up to 1,000 feet and the municipal borewells are only about 500 ft. They go dry in summer and people, desperate for water, have to spend thousands of rupees every month on buying water,” says Lakshman Kumar, convenor of the Bommanahalli Residents’ Welfare Association.

Increasing demand

The only authorised agency supplying water — BWSSB — remains bogged down by ever-increasing demand (it gets requests for about 200 connections every month) and leakages to the tune of about 270 million litres a day (MLD). “In summer, our demand goes up by at least 10 per cent. Power disruptions also add to the problem,” says Chief Engineer T. Venkatraju.

A minor power disruption at the three stations pumping Cauvery water to the city means that from transporting 860 MLD, water pumping comes down to as much as 790 MLD.

Localities get water according to a strict schedule. Power cuts in localities during the time that BWSSB supplies water from its reservoirs means that the pressure falls and the water cannot reach elevated areas. “This usually means that an area that misses out on water once will not get it till the next time, which is probably a week later. We cannot alter our schedule,” Mr. Venkatraju says.

Contamination

Nowhere else are our untenable water practices more visible than in the contamination of groundwater and lakes, also called “fouling the nest” in water parlance.

“Of the 10,000-odd open wells in the city, only about 1,000 are functioning. We need to make underground water sustainable by not letting out sewage underground or into lakes,” says S. Vishwanath, a researcher studying open wells in the city. Pollution of these important storage places, that could mitigate water demands to a large extent during summer, does not make “any ecological or economic sense,” he says.

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