It is not summer yet, but the effects of drought are already showing. With borewells drying up, parts of the city that are not serviced by piped water are facing severe shortage.
Private water suppliers said demand has shot up exponentially from Bellandur, Varthur, Iblur, Sarjapur, and other areas in southeast Bengaluru.
The worst-hit are households that have borewells and turn to water tankers only during the dry months. The residents said since private suppliers prioritise regular customers over them, they are forced to pay more.
Aditi Roy, a resident of Kasavanahalli, said, “Most suppliers turn us down, saying they too are short of water, and don’t have enough to serve those who buy from them round the year.”
Govindaraj, a resident of Channasandra, said for a month he has been forced to buy water. “If we call for a water tanker, they refuse to come. If they agree, they come after a week, and charge almost double the market rate,” he said.
A 6,000-litre tanker costs ₹600 for apartments who buy them through the year, for others it costs between ₹800 and ₹1,000, residents said.
Ramesh Reddy, a water supplier at Doddanekundi, said from the three borewells he owns, he used to extract at least 25 tankers of water a day six months ago, which is now down to less than 10 tankers a day.
“We survive on apartments who have contracts with us to supply water daily. We are finding it difficult to honour our contracts. In this scenario, how can we supply to new customers?” he said.
“There are thousands of borewells in these areas, and the underground water table is overexploited. To overcome this, several water suppliers have now gone as far as 30 km away from the city to dig new borewells to get water from there. But the diesel costs of transporting water makes it unviable,” he added.
Motappa, a supplier in Iblur, said the apartments that are solely dependent on private tankers have not yet been affected, but they too will feel the pinch in the coming days.
‘BWSSB responsible’
Water conservationist S. Vishwanath said private water suppliers cannot be made villains here, as it is the government that has abdicated its responsibility.
“The BWSSB is responsible for water supply for the entire Bengaluru metropolitan area, and not just in areas where they supply water. It must take up underground water management without which the city’s needs can’t be met. The government cannot abdicate its responsibilities,” he said.
He highlighted the importance of rejuvenating lakes, providing the example of Jakkur lake, which, he said, recharges the aquifier by 7.25 million litres a day. “The government must declare an influence zone around lakes, dig borewells and meter water drawn from these borewells,” he added. BWSSB officials, however, maintained that they are a service provider and are responsible for only disruptions in piped water supply where they have laid pipelines.