Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that Bengaluru is facing a shortage of 500 million litres per day (MLD) water every day and the State government has taken various measures to mitigate its impact. This is the first time that the water shortage the city is facing this summer has been quantified.
What city needs
“The city needs 2,600 MLD of water, of which 1,450 MLD is coming from the Cauvery and 650 MLD from the underground water table through borewells. There is a shortage of 500 MLD,” he said.
The Chief Minister was speaking after chairing a review meeting of the drinking water crisis in the city on Monday, the first time he had done so.
Apart from elaborating on several measures taken to mitigate and navigate through the crisis, Mr. Siddaramaiah also announced that a technical advisory committee would be formed to ensure that such a drinking water crisis doesn’t recur in the city.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said that there was enough water in the Cauvery basin to provide for the drinking water needs of the city till June-end, by when the monsoon would have begun. “There is 11.02 tmcft of water in the KRS reservoir and 9.02 tmcft in the Kabini reservoir,” he said.
Crisis in outer zones
The crisis is in the outer zones which are yet to be served by the Cauvery water, the Chief Minister said. “These areas will also get the Cauvery water from this June after the Cauvery Stage V is commissioned,” he said.
At present, these areas are solely dependent on borewells and owing to drought many of them have gone dry, exacerbating the problem, he said. “Of the 14,000 government borewells in the city, 6,900 have dried up. We are drilling new borewells in 313 places and rejuvenating 1,200 borewells. Funds are not a problem. We have given enough funds for drinking water purposes,” he said.
Role of BBMP and BWSSB
Mr. Siddaramaiah directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) officials to increase the number of control rooms and attend to complaints of water shortage immediately. “You will be held responsible if people suffer from water shortage,” he told officials.
He said the officials have been directed to commandeer any private tankers, including the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) tankers, to supply water. “Presently, we are supplying after commandeering water from private borewells, including those at malls,” he said.
14 lakes to be filled
The Chief Minister said that treated water will be filled in dry lakes of the city on the lines of the K.C. Valley project. Treated water from K.C. Valley in the city is being used to fill lakes and tanks in Kolar and Chickballapur districts.
“We have identified 14 lakes in the city for the project. This will help revive and improve the underground water table levels around these lakes,” he said.
