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Young World
Creating better awareness
SWATHI SHIVANAND
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What will the city do for water in the near future?
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Photo: M.A. Sriram
Water: know where it comes from.
BANGALORE
Ask any water expert about how to spread awareness about conserving that precious drop and they’ll say “start with the young.” It was heartening to see that a team of civic conscious school kids, a part of the Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA), had undertaken a comprehensive study of the water situation in Bangalore and presented some startling insights into how little citizens of this city are aware about the water they use.
80 per cent of middle-class Bangaloreans do not know that the source of piped water to the city is both the Cauvery and Arkavathy. 63 per cent from lower income groups do not even know about the existence of these rivers.
Unregulated use
92 per cent residents from the middle class do not know that the water from the Cauvery River travels about 100 km and from Arkavathy river, 30 km, to water the city. Only five per cent from both the middle and lower income groups have rain water harvesting implemented in their houses. Even though Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) spends Rs. 18 per kilolitre to bring water to the city, 88 per cent from the middle class do not know that they pay only Rs. six per kilolitre.
Apart from the survey, the students also interviewed government officials to understand what is being done in the areas of conservation, ground water level and water tariffs. In an impressive presentation, the children painted a bleak scenario of the water situation in Bangalore. They said that no department was responsible for regulating use of ground water, allowing for its indiscriminate use and that BWSSB cannot increase the price of water despite incurring losses because the issue is politically sensitive.
The survey covered about 3,000 households from both middle and lower income groups across the city and was conducted in September and October. About 60 per cent of respondents were women.
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