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The history of water supply

The message: Lifeline once, just an open ground now.

Begun in 1891 and completed in 1896, the Hessarghatta reservoir was designed to provide water for a population of 250,000 people in Bangalore. This anticipated population was reached in 1921 itself and therefore a new project had to be thought of to augment supply of water to Bangalore. The monsoon failed in 1924 and 1925 and the 1926 monsoon too arrived late, leaving the Hessarghatta reservoir almost dry and causing a shortage of water in the city.

Prof D.K. Subramanian reports that by October,1925, tanks upstream were breached and drained to fill up Hessarghatta and provide relief to Bangalore city. Dodda Tumkur tank, followed by Kolathur and Mdure tanks, were breached to bring some water to Hessarghatta. Perhaps for the first time, in a sort of payment for ecological services, the city compensated the farmers dependent on the three tanks for the loss of water and irrigation.

A committee was constituted under Sir M.Visvesvaraya to find a permanent and reliable source of water for Bangalore. The committee suggested the construction of dam across the Arkavathy itself but further downstream after the confluence of the Kumudavathi at Thippagondanahalli (T.G.Halli). The reservoir came to be called the Chamarajendra reservoir and the water to Bangalore started flowing from it in 1933.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) website tells us that the original storage of water in T.G.Halli was 2364 million cubic feet and subsequently it was increased, by raising the height of the reservoir wall, to 3038 million cubic feet. Water was pumped to the city in stages. In the final stage around 135 to 140 million litres of water was pumped from the reservoir to the city daily.

One consequence of shifting from Hessarghatta to Thippagondanhalli was the height to which water had to be pumped to reach Bangalore. From Hessarghatta the head to which water had to be pumped to Bangalore was 131 metres and required only a single stage pumping from Soladevanahalli. From T.G.Halli however, the head was 234 metres and necessitated two-stage pumping with an intermediate pumping station at Tavarekere.

The catchment area of T.G.Halli, 1453 square kilometres, represented a substantial increase over the Hessarghatta catchment area of 474 sq. km. The catchment area was declared a regulated zone under the Prevention of Pollution Act in 2004 following a public interest petition in the High Court of Karnataka. Industrial waste discharge and construction therefore are regulated in this catchment area.

Both the quantity and quality of inflow into the T.G.Halli reservoir is on the decline and it is unlikely to be considered a reliable source for Bangalore in the coming decade.

While the catchment area to satisfy the city’s thirst keeps on increasing, the water footprint too increases. In the absence of a catchment management institution no planning, coordination and investment is done to ensure that the quantity, reliability and quality of flows in our rivers and reservoirs are maintained. In the absence of any form of regulation of water withdrawal in the catchment, unhampered withdrawal of water from tanks and groundwater for irrigation of water-intensive crops leaves rivers and reservoirs dry.

Constituting a river basin authority for rivers such as the Arkavathy will enable all stakeholders to participate and a reasonable allocation made to satisfy all needs. Unless such an institution is brought into play, these reservoirs will remain as mute monuments to the cities’ thirst and our mismanagement of our rivers and waters. Conflicts around water will become inevitable. Learning from history and taking steps to prevent repeated failures is water wisdom.

www.rainwaterclub.org

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