The Hindu : Karnataka News : Another summer of water shortage set to hit Bangalore

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Wednesday, Mar 23, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Another summer of water shortage set to hit Bangalore

Afshan Yasmeen

Several areas are already deprived of the precious liquid

SUMMER SQUEEZE:If BWSSB is able to reduce wastage, it will save at least 250 mld which can cater to nearly two lakh more households.

Bangalore: With the demand for water going up exponentially each passing year, this summer is not going to be any better for Bangaloreans.

Soaring mercury levels and a rising population are bound to result in increased water usage. Officials estimate the city's demand for water will touch 1,250 million litres of water per day (mld) this summer.

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) officials claim that they are trying to manage with the existing 885 mld of water.

But alarmingly, residents of several areas, including south Bangalore (located at the starting point of the BWSSB's supply network) have started feeling the shortage.

Down the drain

Depleting water level in the Thippagondanahalli (T.G. Halli) reservoir is adding to the problem.

What makes matters worse is that at least 37 per cent of the water supply, or 333 mld, literally goes down the drain due to old, rusty pipes and poor distribution, admits BWSSB chairperson P.B. Ramamurthy.

The potable water supply network of 7,500 km criss-crossing the city carries 885 million litres of water per day (mld) to 6.1 lakh households.

But these figures hide the problems of inequitable and unreliable water supply.

While some areas are endowed with an enviable supply of water, others face perennially dry taps. Officials say the city faces a shortfall of 350 mld with the supply at 885 mld as against a demand of 1250 mld; and including the 333 mld lost, the total shortage touches 683 mld.

No answer

While 15 per cent goes waste because of pipe and joint leaks and corroded house service connections, officials have no answer about the remaining 22 per cent.

If the water board is able to reduce the wastage, it will save at least 250 mld. This can cater to nearly two lakh more households, says Mr. Ramamurthy.

Cauvery

The water board draws 870 mld from the Cauvery (in three stages and first phase of 4th stage) and 15 mld from the Thippagondanahalli reservoir.

The water level in this 74-foot reservoir, which gets water from the Arkavathy, has plummeted and officials are now struggling to maintain it at 21 feet.

Although 8,600 bore wells have been sunk to supplement the Cauvery supply, nearly 4,000 have become defunct.

“Most of our pipelines were laid in the 1940s. Although we are replacing a few pipes every year, at least 1,500 km more need to be changed. Most of our distribution loss is because of these old lines,” Mr. Ramamurthy says.

That apart, illegal connections have aggravated the problem.

In the absence of official will to correct the system, water thieves continue to siphon the precious resource without paying for it. The crisis reached a peak 10 days ago when BWSSB officials had to shift a major pipeline in Thorekadenahalli to facilitate work on the Cauvery IV Phase 2nd Stage.

This cut off supply to the city leaving people parched for almost a whole week.

Summer also comes with frequent power problems.

If power trips even for a minute at the pumping stations, it takes almost three hours for the BWSSB to restore water supply as 60 pumps have to be restarted.

Mr. Ramamurthy says that there is no alternative to dependence on power as high voltage is required to pump water to the city from the Cauvery river, 100 km away.

Delhi versus Bangalore

When Delhi, which is a far bigger urban sprawl than Bangalore, is self-sufficient in water, why does Bangalore have a problem?

“That is because of topographical reasons. While Delhi has good river sources, Bangalore is sitting on a hill and water is being pumped against gravity from a distance of 120 km from the Cauvery,” Mr. Ramamurthy says.

The State Government's committee on finding alternative sources of water for the city and the additional 500 mld of Cauvery water that can be drawn after the completion of the Cauvery IV Phase 2nd Stage project in March 2012 will definitely solve the problem, Mr. Ramamurthy adds.

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