BENGALURU, 22 FEB

Bengaluru, once known for its abundant water resources, is facing a severe water crisis this summer. Erratic rainfall, depleting groundwater levels and growing demand have pushed the City to its limits. The brunt of the crisis falls heavily on households.

The groundwater in Bengaluru is drying up. “Among the 11,000 borewells in the City, 1,240 are already dried up and it's not long before the remaining starts to dry up as well,” Suresh B, Chief Engineer of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board of (BWSSB), told Salar News. The areas that are facing severe water crisis in the City are Bellandur, Jakkur, Ramamurthy Nagar, Singasandra and Devanahalli, according to BWSSB.

The City needs to find additional sources of water. “On average, we supply 1,450 million litres of water daily to Bengaluru from waterbodies in the State. Additionally, there are around 11,000 borewells in Bengaluru that supply 400 million litres of water daily to the City. Even though 1,850 million litres of water (from waterbodies and borewells) is supplied daily, it is not enough for the City," Suresh said.

Around 110 villages along the outskirts of Bengaluru are deprived of water due to the extreme consumption of water in the City. “We require an extra 1,680 million litres to supply water daily to these 110 villages,” he said.

Water tankers find it tough to meet demands

Many areas in the City are dependent on the water tankers during the time of crisis. Mallappa, a water tank supplier (Kalkere and its surrounding areas), told Salar News: “We are getting a lot of demands from apartments for water and we charge Rs 1,000 for 7,000 litres of water. We have to charge that much as the water levels have come down in many places and there is no place where we can find more water. We solely depend on groundwater, and if that itself is depleting then our work will be cut off.”

Some water tanker operators are planning to cut down their operations due to the crisis. “We charge Rs 600 for 5,000 litres of water. We supply mostly to restaurants and if there is an emergency we give to apartments as well. Now that summer is coming, the water supply may drop from our side as well due to water shortage,” said Syed Faruq, a water tank supplier to Sarjapur and nearby areas.

Many water ATMs shut

Many of the water ATMs in Yeshwanthpur, Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Kengeri have shut down due to the lack of water supply. The government-operated Reverse Osmosis (RO) units or water ATMs in many areas of the City have increased the rates from Rs 5 to Rs 10 for a 20-litre supply. Some ATMs run by private companies, who were charging Rs 8 for 20 litres, have now increased it to Rs 15.

Apartments resort to drastic measures

Apartments in the City are resorting to several steps to mitigate this crisis. Short showers, reuse of greywater (water from wash basins, showers, bathtubs and kitchen) and meticulous leak detection have become the norm. “We release water at alternate hours to residents so that equal amounts of water in a controlled measurement is being supplied to every house,” said Jayadeva, a member of the owners’ association at Raheja Gardenia in Shivaji Nagar.

Malathi S, a member of Brigade Woods Residents and Owners Association (Brigade Woods) near ITPL main road in KR Puram, said: “We have been supplying water at a low pressure so that maximum water gets saved. Along with that, we have a period in which the water will be supplied to all the residents. And they will have access only at that time to save water for the whole day. In this way, we can have control over how much water we are using.”

Many apartments in the City have started harvesting rainwater and installed individual water meters. “We used to have master water meters in our apartments before. Once we found out that the water consumption is increasing every month, we decided to install individual water meters in each resident’s house so that they are responsible for their water consumption,” said Venkatraman S, the association head of Brigade Meadows, Saalu Hunase village, Kanakapura Road.

Many high-rise apartments in Bengaluru have started awareness campaigns, urging residents to adopt water-saving practices.

BWSSB plans more borewells

BWSSB will be taking measures to reduce the water scarcity in the City, Chief Engineer Suresh said. “KRS and Kabini dams are now having 22,000 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water, which is enough to support the City for another 2-3 months. We are planning to dig more borewells where there is more groundwater,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said supplying drinking water to Bengaluru is a big problem. "Bengaluru is rapidly growing every year and the City's population is rising by 10 lakh a year. For the sake of Bengaluru's respect and pride, we want to prioritise drinking water first,’’ he said.

Shivakumar said the State is not getting enough water from Cauvery and tankers that supply water to the City draw water from borewells. "Almost 20 per cent of Bengaluru's water needs are met through tankers," he said. Acknowledging the need for a comprehensive solution, Shivakumar said, "We need a major solution. That's why we're fighting for the Mekedatu project." —Salar News