People in CMCs may have to put up with water problem for one more year

People in CMCs may have to put up with water problem for one more year

The Hindu

Work on the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project is likely to be delayed

BANGALORE: Residents of the city's suburbs may have to put up with water problems for another year as work on the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWASP) is likely to be delayed.

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is executing the project at a cost of Rs. 802 crore in the six city municipal councils (CMCs) and one town municipal council (TMC) around Bangalore. Work on the water supply component taken up at a cost of Rs. 410 crore is under progress and has to be completed by October this year as per the original deadline.

While BWSSB officials in charge of the project are confident that work will be completed within the stipulated deadline, sources told The Hindu on Friday that work on the water component itself will take another year. With the State Government's plans to add more areas into the BMP limits and also merge the CMCs with the BMP, the tendering process for installing the supply lines is getting delayed. Though 40 per cent of work has been completed, everything depends on the reorganisation of areas under the CMCs, sources say.

This apart, the capacity of the trunk mains and feeder lines being installed under the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme Stage IV, Phase II, also has to be increased to ensure regular supply to the suburbs.

This scheme, being implemented with assistance from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), is aimed at drawing over 500 million litres per day (MLD) of water from Cauvery river.

To meet the water requirement of the seven CMCs and one TMC spread over 250 sq km, BWSSB had to augment over 450 MLD of water to the present drinking water supply of 860 MLD. This called for setting up more reservoirs and feeder lines, the sources said.

As of now, the residents of the suburbs have to depend on borewell water supplied by the CMCs.

In most of the areas, this water is not fit for consumption and people are forced to buy mineral water. As the borewell water supply is irregular, people also buy tanker water and store it in their sumps.

According to a study conducted by Janasahayog, a voluntary organisation, drinking water supply in 19 of the 35 slums in Leggere ward of Peenya Dasarahalli CMC is not fit for human consumption.