As an unusually hot summer takes off, outer zones of the city — which are yet to get piped water supply and hence are dependent on borewells and water tankers — are hit by a severe water crisis: borewells have gone dry and tankers are unable to supply water. A state of panic has set in among residents, prompting them to ration water, dig more borewells, and take up water conservation campaigns.
Rajkumar, a resident of a large apartment complex in Mahadevapura, said they had begun water rationing as a conservation measure, prompted by the absolute non-availability of adequate water. “We try to procure adequate water from tankers. But on most days, it is not available. We have now restricted water supply to flats to two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening,” he said.
Clement Jayakumar, a residents’ welfare association (RWA) activist who recently did an online poll on Whitefield Rising social media handles to assess the water crisis, said water rationing was a reality in many apartments in southeast Bengaluru.
‘Water mafia’
There have been claims of a water mafia, run by private suppliers, holding residents to ransom by refusing supply, only to hike prices. However, private water suppliers have a different tale to tell. Ramesh Reddy, a private water supplier for over two decades in southeast Bengaluru, said demand for water had almost doubled over the last one month as borewells were drying up.
“The problem is the borewells that we draw water from are also drying up, leading to a severe demand-and-supply gap. Even if we want to, we are not able to supply water,” he said.
Price shoots up
This has only led to the price being hiked. A 6,000-litre tanker supply costs ₹800 and a 12,000-litre tanker supply costs ₹1,300 to ₹1,400.
When The Hindu reported on the emerging water crisis in the outer zones on January 18, a 6,000-litre tanker supply costed ₹600 and a 12,000-litre tanker supply cost was in the range of ₹800 to ₹1,000.
The water crisis was discussed in the BBMP council meeting on February 27 where councillors cutting across party lines demanded measures to mitigate the situation.
BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad issued a detailed circular on March 1, which allows councillors to organise water supply through tankers through the BWSSB in the core areas and through private players in the outer zones.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that people have resorted to digging more borewells. Borewell drillers have reported a spike in demand for them across the city — not just outer zones. Mr. Prasad has also empowered councillors to use ₹81 crore allocated to the civic body under the 14th Finance Commission to dig new public borewells in the wards facing water scarcity. However, no data is available as to how many new borewells have been dug.
‘Half bucket challenge’
The severe water scarcity has prompted residents to take up water conservation campaigns. Bangalore Apartments Federation has called for a #BAFHalfBucketChallenge asking all residents of the city to take a bath with just half a bucket of water. “A water crisis is looming in Bengaluru. We all need to do our bit to conserve water. If all of us can try to take bath in half a bucket of water and succeed, we will help conserve millions of litres of water,” said a statement from the BAF.
Water situation comfortable: BWSSB
While areas with no piped water supply are reeling under a severe crisis, the situation in core city, where most parts are supplied with Cauvery water by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), remains comfortable.
As against last year, Cauvery reservoirs levels are far more comfortable to meet the city’s needs till the end of summer, said BWSSB officials.
Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre data shows the four Cauvery reservoirs have 35.35 tmcft of water, of which Bengaluru’s summer demands will be up to 4.5 tmcft — that is 1.5 tmcft per month. At the same time last year, the storage in the reservoirs was 22.3 tmcft.
BWSSB officials said they were pumping more than 1,400 mld of water a day to the city, and in terms of quantity of water, the demand for the summer was likely to be met.
(This is the first of a three-part series on summer-related problems.)