Bengaluru’s perennial water woes

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

For lakhs of people residing in the 110 villages that were brought under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) jurisdiction in 2007, Cauvery water supply continues to be a pipe dream.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) still struggling to complete water pipes laying work under the Cauvery Stage V project for these areas. These residents will once again experience water shortage in the forthcoming summer

A majority of borewells dug up and maintained by the BBMP are now defunct. It has become a habit for the BBMP authorities to float one or two tenders inviting bidders for the repair and maintenance of borewells in areas where Cauvery water is yet to be supplied. However, the BBMP authorities also float tenders for the maintenance of borewells in other areas, including the Central Business District.

It is quite shocking to see the BBMP floating a tender for the maintenance of borewells in wards such as Ramaswamy Palya (Rs 14.75 lakh), Vasanth Nagar (Rs 19.30 lakh), Sampangiramanagar (Rs 19.25 lakh), Bharathinagar (Rs 19.25 lakh), Jayamahal (Rs 20 lakh), and Shivajinagar (Rs 20 lakh). All these wards are in and around the Central Business District (CBD) and had Cauvery water supply even before the Bangalore City Corporation became the BBMP.

“It is not fair to spend such a huge amount of money for the so-called maintenance of borewells. I do not know how many residents prefer borewell water in these areas. It will be better to handover the maintenance of borewells to ward committee members,” opines Saidatta, a social activist.

Many people residing at areas that were brought into the BBMP’s jurisdiction want the BWSSB to expedite the completion of water pipe laying work. As of now, they have to depend on private water suppliers or borewells (own as well as those maintained by the BBMP) for water. Unfortunately, many borewells are becoming defunct or dry within a few months due to the decline in ground water level in the city.

“The BWSSB has completed laying pipes only on main roads. The work for laying water pipes on cross roads to ensure supply of water to households is yet to begin. We have no other option than depending on a borewell or private water supplier for water,” said V Prakash from Horamavu.

The BBMP has made arrangements to supply borewell water twice a week in areas that have no Cauvery water. “We are expecting the BWSSB authorities to complete the pending work to ensure Cauvery water supply to all households in and around Kanakagiri,” said Satish Chandra C.A., a resident of Kanakagiri.

It has become a habit or routine for elected representatives and the people at the helm of affairs to make statements elaborating the measures needed to mitigate water woes in Bengaluru, but these statements or proposals always remain on paper only.

Ironically, the elected representatives and the authorities concerned also emphasise the need to regulate private water tankers, but seldom make an attempt in this direction. It is a known fact that private water suppliers are ever ready to exploit residents during summer by fixing the amount as per their whims and fancies for supplying water through water tankers.

Many residents complain against the negligence of BWSSB authorities in enforcing rain water harvesting. They said the authorities are simply collecting a penalty amount from consumers for not implementing rain water harvesting. They said the BWSSB authorities never bothered to guide the consumers or create awareness among the consumers on the importance of harvesting rain water.

“We have implemented rain water harvesting two months ago and informed the BWSSB engineer about it. We have appealed to him to stop adding the penalty amount to the water bill but the engineer is yet to visit our building for inspection even after two months,” said Manjunath Raju, a resident of Maruthinagar.