Dr V Ram Prasath Manohar, chairman of the Bengaluru Water Supply & Sewage Board (BWSSB), has an unenviable job. The young IAS officer has to ensure that the world’s second-largest IT city gets enough water every day. At the same time, he has to fight misinformation and alarmists to calm the nerves of the city’s population.
These days, Manohar rarely sleeps. He starts work early after staying awake late into the night taking stock of the situation and making plans for the next day. April will be the “cruellest month” for him and, like all Bengalurians, he too prays for early pre-Monsoon showers.
Bengaluru’s water shortage has already made it to international headlines, triggering panic among its almost two crore (20 million including the rural parts) people.
The Congress government in Karnataka led by chief minister Siddaramaiah, which is gearing up for Lok Sabha elections, is now mobilising all resources to fight the water shortage in the capital city.
Monsoon failed in the previous year, causing unprecedented drought across Karnataka. According to Siddaramaiah, this kind of a drought has not been seen in the last 130 years.
Unlike other major cities, Bengaluru is officially a hill station situated at an elevation of 3,000 feet from the sea level. It is at the centre of the Deccan plateau and gets copious rains from two Monsoon seasons — Southwest Monsoon (June-September) and Northeast Monsoon (November-December).
Due to its elevation, the city has hundreds of small and big water bodies. Not so long ago, it had over 600 tanks and lakes. Over the years, the city, which is now bursting at the seams, devoured 2/3rds of the water bodies, turning once-serene tanks and lakes into concrete skyscrapers.
Till the IT boom hit the skies in the early 2000s, Bengaluru had an ideal population of about 50 lakh people. The city has added over one crore in just 20 years, adding to its water woes. Bengaluru has expanded into neighbouring districts of Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapur and even Tumkur, making providing drinking water a huge task.
Two-thirds of Bengaluru’s water comes from the Cauvery River. For the remaining needs, the city depends on borewells and other sources. Pumping water to the city from Cauvery is an engineering marvel as the river flows 1,000 feet below Bengaluru’s elevation at a distance of 120 kilometres.
The Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal has allocated 35 TMC feet water for Bengaluru and the city is currently using 19 TMC feet from the fully executed Cauvery 1-4 phase water supply schemes.
In the Cauvery V Phase, the BWSSB is planning to supply Cauvery water to 110 villages which now form the core of the IT corridor in the southern and eastern parts of the metropolis. This phase alone will utilise 10 TMC feet of water from the Cauvery. The area is now entirely dependent on borewells for its water needs.
The water shortage is acute in these parts as 30 per cent of the borewells dried up by the end of February. Water tankers, which are the lifeline of the residents, have been taken over by the government on the instructions of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who also holds the powerful portfolio of Bengaluru Development. The BBMP has also fixed the price of water being supplied by the tankers to help the people who otherwise would be at the mercy of tanker mafia.
Alarmed gated communities and high-rise apartments have already started rationing water, banning car washing with drinking water, using it for fountains etc. Since the borewells have dried up or the water table has depleted, getting tanker water has also become a big task for most.
“Entire Bengaluru is not facing a water crisis. Yes, the Monsoon failed completely last year and there are some serious issues. The areas which are not under the Cauvery water supply scheme are facing crisis due to drought. Our government is doing everything possible to supply water to all. No one should cause panic,” Siddaramaiah said while speaking to the media.
The BWSSB is also assuring people of enough water to meet their daily demands.
According to water expert Vishwanath Srikantaiah, a major part of the groundwater crisis in Bengaluru is the draining of Bellandur and Varthur lakes for desilting. As an emergency measure, just filling them with tertiary treated wastewater will fill aquifers up to 10 kilometres.
A water crusader, Vishwanath is optimistic about water for Bengaluru in the future. “Cauvery 2,225 MLD+ground water 600 MLD+Rainwater 500 MLD + treated wastewater 2,260 MLD = 5,585 million litres per day,” he adds, explaining what the water availability for Bengaluru could look like if planned well. This would be a holistic plan, good enough for four crore people.
Manohar, meanwhile, assures that there will be no problem till July as far as Cauvery water is concerned. According to him, Bengaluru is getting 1,470 MLD per day from Cauvery. At this rate, the city needs 1.54 TMC feet of water per month and Bengaluru requires a maximum of eight TMC feet of water till the end of July.
He adds that Cauvery V which is scheduled for implementation by May 15 can add another 775 MLD water per day.
At a later stage, the BWSSB plans to bring outskirt taluks in Rural, Chikkaballapura and Ramanagara under Cauvery VI, and the final phase utilising all 35 TMC feet of water allocated for Bengaluru, he says.
Expecting more crisis closer to the Monsoon season, residents and restaurateurs have already started rationing the available water.
The water shortage is likely to be a big issue during the Lok Sabha elections and the ruling Congress is praying for the rains to face that.
Bengaluru’s water shortage is certainly worrying, but not yet alarming.
Comments
0 comment