Cauvery water for Bengaluru till end of June: BWSSB

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Amidst Bengaluru facing an acute shortage of potable water for the past few weeks, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage (BWSSB) claimed that the reservoirs have enough water for the city till the end of June.

“We have collected 11.02 Thousand Million Cubic (TMC) feet from the Krishnarajasagara (KRS) Dam and around 9.02 TMC from the Kabini reservoir,” the statement read.

This comes at the time when both the reservoirs reportedly have alarmingly low levels of water.

The KRS reservoir, as of February 28, has only 16.075 TMC, the lowest since 2018. Last year, 28.829 TMC of water was available, reports suggest. The Kabini reservoir, reportedly has only 11.74 TMCs.

The BWSSB, with officials from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and the Energy Department presented Chief Minister Siddaramaiah the roadmap for the next few months, in a meeting on Tuesday.

Out of 14,000 bore wells, around 6,900 of them are dry. Around 1200 will be resuscitated, in addition to the drilling of 313 new bore wells.

Among the 110 villages, 55 villages are categorised as ‘critical,’ officials have ensured that 775 million litres per day (MLD) will be supplied, once Phase V of Cauvery is commissioned by early May.

A total of 2600 MLD is required for drinking and industrial purposes in the city, out of which 1450 MLD is sourced from Cauvery River. 650 MLD is sourced from the groundwater table, out of which a deficit of 500 MLD is recorded.

It is reported that the monsoon is expected to arrive in the first week of June. Bengaluru, which has progressively lost its lakes to real estate, is staring at dry lakes.

The BWSSB on March 11 announced that these lakes will be revived by pouring treated water. Bellandur, Varthur, Nayandahalli, Herohalli Attur and Jakkur will be refilled.

Officials in the BWSSB have hinted at the installation of Sewage Treatment Plants at all major lakes “Once the board ropes in a full-time chairman, The STP’s will be planned,” an official said.

BWSSB CHAIRMAN MOOTS ROBOTIC INTERVENTION IN BOREWELL MANAGEMENT

Implementation of robotic technologies into maintenance of bore wells was one of the suggestions put forth by Ram Prasath Manohar, Chairman of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).

This comes at the backdrop of 6000 bore wells failing to fetch water, as Bengaluru is reeling under a water crisis. In a meeting with the Bengaluru Water Tankers Association on Tuesday, Manohar advocated for robotic technology to be brought in to sort inadequate management issues, one of the main reasons these bore wells go dry.

As motors keep running without water, it is highly unlikely that they fail, claimed the chairman. With the intervention of Robotics, this can be averted.

Automatic power switching, based on pump-set details and water flow information. The motors can be switched off automatically when there is no water, Manohar said.

The meeting also came to an agreement regarding the use of rain water to rejuvenate dry bore wells.

The BWSSB are planning to establish rainwater collecting systems from residential areas and channel into these bore wells.