Serpentine queues outside the community Reverse Osmosis (RO) water plants, noisy water tankers rattling their way to the high-rise apartments across the city, supermarkets running out of mineral water stock and taps running dry at homes and offices have become common scenes in Bengaluru as water crisis has disrupted normal life.
The IT employees are urging the government to direct the IT companies to declare work-from-home for the next three months. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has banned drilling of new borewells as existing borewells are running dry. The depletion of groundwater across the state capital has induced reverse migration to the towns and villages. The BWSSB has also banned the usage of potable water for non-essential purposes like cleaning vehicles, construction of roads and buildings, for entertainment and decoration purposes. With the upcoming Holi festival, citizens are seeking a ban on the celebration of the festival of colours as many resident welfare associations have been forced to shut down swimming pools and ban hoarding of water owing to severe water scarcity.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Monday said that the government was taking all necessary steps to contain the water tanker mafia and ensure adequate water supply to the people.
BWSSB chairman V. Ram Prasat Manohar claimed that there was enough water in the Cauvery reservoir to meet the drinking water needs of Bengaluru for the next five months. “We have 34 TMC of water in the Cauvery reservoir. Our daily requirement is 1,450 MLD and therefore we will be utilising only 8 TMC of water till July. However, there is a severe shortage of groundwater and the daily requirement is 650 MLD,” said Manohar.
Interestingly, more than 50 per cent of the city’s population does not receive Cauvery water and are solely dependent on borewells. With the borewells drying up, the residents are at the mercy of private water tankers.
Shivakumar stated there was no shortage of water wherever Cauvery water was being supplied. “There is a shortage of water in areas dependent on borewells. The state government has taken all necessary action. We have not seen such a severe drought in the last 30-40 years. Of the 13,900 borewells in Bengaluru, 6,900 have dried up. In this backdrop, the government has taken over private water tankers. We have stopped the water tanker mafia and ensuring water tankers to people at a reasonable price.”
“We have fixed prices for water tankers supplying water to apartments and industries. More than 1,500 tankers have registered till now and we have given more time for others to register. We are taking steps to put a signboard on the registered water tankers with the help of RTO, BBMP and the police. We have identified borewells around Bengaluru and we will use them if need be. The fifth phase of Cauvery water project (CWSS V) will be completed by the end of May,” he said.
Despite the government diktat to follow the rate card (fixed by the government), the private water tankers are entering into agreement with the residential complexes and charging anywhere between Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per tanker. The worst affected are the 110 villages in the periphery that were merged with the core area in 2007 to form the greater Bengaluru. The water woes have forced apartment complexes to resort to rationing of water and purchasing tanker water paying exorbitant costs. The government has extended the deadline for registration of private water tankers until March 15, as only 1,530 tankers (out of 3,500) have registered till now.
The government has plans to assign tankers and set up war rooms in every ward, and a helpline to streamline supply.
Even as the BJP is crying foul over the “mismanagement” of water by the Congress government, Shivakumar contended that Mekedatu was the only permanent solution to Bengaluru’s water woes. “For the time being, we have decided to rebore the existing borewells. We have also decided to enter into an agreement with farmers in Anekal and South Bengaluru region to ferry water to Bengaluru. No government has taken such extensive measures in the history. The BJP is raising a hue and cry, why don’t they get the Mekedatu project approved? Why did they take back Rs 1,000 crore grants announced for the project? The BJP must go to Delhi and protest,” he said.
