Water scarcity in Bangalore: A bogey or reality?

Water scarcity in Bangalore: A bogey or reality?
Deccan Herald

Is there a genuine water scarcity in the city, or is the ‘crisis’ situation a result of water politics? The drinking water issue created much steam at last Saturday’s BMP council meeting, with corporators across party lines unitedly turning their ire towards the BWSSB for irregular supply of water.

However, when Deccan Herald made a spot visit to the “worst-hit” (as pointed out by some corporators) areas on Monday, it found that the situation was not as desperate as it was made out to be. This, in the words of residents themselves. Mayor Mumtaz Begum narrowed down the affected areas to Sanjaynagar, Banaswadi and Jayamahal.

The BMP also claimed to have received complaints of water shortage from areas like Rajendranagar in Koramangala and Bannerghatta Road. DH’s interaction with the public revealed that the case rests on the proverbial ‘either the glass is half empty, or half full’!

Nearly 100 residents of Ward 100 in Sanjaynagar came on the streets last week to protest against the erratic water supply. Local corporator L Venkatesh said areas including NGEF Layout, RMS Layout and ACES Layout were dogged by water shortage.

Pushpa, a housewife, agreed that there is scarcity. “We get water once in three days, which is insufficient.” However, Swamy, a trader on the next lane, insisted there is no shortage.

“There was a shortage last week, due to a technical snag, but that was rectified,” Swamy said.

Meanwhile, Ramaiah, owner of Krishna Water Supply in NGEF Layout, said the demand for water for domestic purposes has reduced this year.

“The demand for tankers is mostly related to construction work. Since 90 per cent of the houses have borewells, and BWSSB supply is fairly regular, there is hardly any demand from residents, especially this year,” Ramaiah revealed.

Most slum dwellers at Rajendranagar said they had no drinking water shortage. However, a few complained that the pressure was not strong. A public borewell has also eased the situation.

Banaswadi corporator Lokesh Reddy says he has complained to the Mayor about water shortage, but admits (as an aside) there is no problem as such.

“We have to keep pressurising the officials, otherwise they will turn slack,” he said. His special appeal to BWSSB: “Please increase water supply from twice to thrice a week.”

BWSSB reacts

BWSSB Chief Engineer (Maintenance) L S Khandappanavar admitted that there are problems in terms of frequency, quantity and duration of supply, but there is no crisis situation in the city.

He added that the BWSSB has sent its tankers only when supply is disrupted due to power shortage or technical problems, but never to deal with “continuous water shortage”.

“Several residents in the 20 new wards where we have given water connections, refused to take it as they don’t want to pay money. Now they are running to corporators complaining they are not getting water,” added another BWSSB official.

CM: CAN WE QUENCH THIRST?

Is it possible for the government to meet the increasing demand for drinking water in Bangalore city?

This question was posed by none other than Chief Minister H D Kumaaraswamy himself. Analysing the growing demand of people and industries for supply of drinking water, the Chief Minister said on Monday that the city’s growth has put a tough task before the government. “The situation is getting worse with the increasing population along with the growth of the city. A tough challenge is before the government,” he said and added that appropriate steps would be taken to deal with the crisis.