‘Protect Integrity of catchment areas , make cities porous: Expert

By NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:  “Bengaluru is a victim of unplanned urbanization, loss of flood plains and flood sinks, narrowing of drains, disappearance of green spaces and concretization of ground. If indeed, the city has to have a sustainable supply of water, the authorities would need to focus upon maintaining the integrity of catchment areas of water bodies, both from biological and chemical angles”.   

This was stated here by Prof. T.V. Ramachandra, Director and Scientist, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science at the “Water Conclave: Bengaluru on the Brink” organized by News Trail on Sunday in observance of World Environment Day.

Prof. Ramachandra said the investment in watershed development should be undertaken from ecological point of view instead of civil engineering angle. “We don’t need Gross Domestic Product (GDP), we need Gross Environmental Product (GEP).’’ He pointed out that Karnataka has 281,299 hectares of wetlands and said that if they were organized for infiltration of water into the ground, productivity would grow by leaps and bounds. Mr. J. Manjunath, Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban district, said a 200 per cent growth in population during the last 30 years has burdened the City’s ecosystem. He said there are 837 lakes in the Bengaluru district, of which 237 fall in the BBMP area while another 500 come under the Bengaluru rural district. He said the administration was alert and taking all measures to protect lakes.

Mr. Rizwan Arshad, MLA for Shivajinagar,  who inaugrated the programme, said the city has no source of water and has to depend on water from the river Cauvery which flows at a distance of around 100 kms from the city. He said under his constituency a survey revealed that 38% of water supplied by BWSSB does not reach households.