BANGALORE: Though the inflow of water to Thippagondanahalli Reservoir (TG Halli), which was the only source of drinking water for the city from 1933 to 1971, has virtually stopped, the State Government is undecided about the proposal to rejuvenate the Arkavathy and Kumudavathi rivers, which are the only sources of water to the reservoir, from the past one year.It has nearly been one year since Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Limited (CNNL) submitted a report to the State Government about the status of Arkavathy and Kumudavathi rivers. In its report the CNNL had suggested various measures including rejuvenating the rivers by de-silting them and clearing the encroachments in the catchment areas, banning eucalyptus trees, regulating the sinking of bore wells in the catchment areas and breaking over 200 check dams that were erected on the course of these rivers. The CNNL had also sought `36 crore for taking up rejuvenation works of Arkavathy and Kumudavathi rivers. According to the KNNL Managing Director M A Sadiq the department will not receive the necessary funds to undertake the aforesaid works, unless the cabinet approves the report and the proposal to undertake the rejuvenation works. Around `2 crore was allocated in the 2010 budget for the rejuvenation of Arkavathy river and even that has not been released till now. According to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Engineer-in-Chief T Venkatraju, there was 18 feet water in the reservoir before the pre-monsoon season in April and the water level has not increased since then, though there were sufficient rains . According to the data obtained from the meteorological department, the city has received 562.3 mm rainfall - 44.2 mm in February, 217.1 mm in April, 150.5 mm in May, 57.7 mm in June and 92.8 mm in July - in this year, which is more than 57 per cent of the city’s average annual rainfall. The average annual rainfall of the city is 970 mm. The reservoir had received only 10 feet water in 2010 though the rainfall was more than normal. The 74 feet reservoir has not filled up to the brim since 1998. Due to water scarcity the BWSSB is pumping only 18 MLD into the city.
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