Final award may leave Bangalore parched

Final award may leave Bangalore parched
Deccan Herald

Bangalore may become uninhabitable in not-so-distant future, unless Karnataka farmers from the Cauvery basin area spare some water from their share for the burgeoning population here.


Bangalore may become uninhabitable in not-so-distant future, unless Karnataka farmers from the Cauvery basin area spare some water from their share for the burgeoning population here.

Sample this: the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal has in its final order concluded that two-thirds of the State capital are not entitled to Cauvery water. The reason: two-thirds of the City lie outside the Cauvery basin area in Karnataka.

The tribunal, thus, took into consideration the drinking water requirement of only one-third of Bangalore. The quantity of water allotted: 0.87 tmc ft.

Actually, 0.87 TMC is the gross drinking water allocation made by the tribunal for one-third of Bangalore and other cities and towns of Karnataka falling within the basin area.

“Since two-thirds of Bangalore City lie outside the basin, we are considering the drinking water requirement of Bangalore City for its portion of that area which lies within the Cauvery basin…” the final order states on Page 102, Volume 5.



Silicon city

While making projections of the drinking water requirement for year 2011, the tribunal did its calculations on the basis of the 1991 Census. Ironically, all that development Bangalore underwent in the last decade – the City has grown into a silicon hub, attracting migrant work force from across the country and lately abroad – were in vain after all.

The State government had made an appeal to allocate 30 tmc ft of water for Bangalore City. The final order, however, said: “We are considering the existing requirements as indicated in 1990, i.e. 14.52 tmc…,”

The tribunal found that the drinking water requirement of one-third of Bangalore is less than 0.87 tmc ft. The final order does not quantify one-third Bangalore’s share, though. And, 1.75 tmc ft of water is actually allocated for drinking water for one-third of Bangalore, other cities (including Mysore) and towns and rural areas in the entire Cauvery basin area of the state.

What it actually means is the people living in one-third of Bangalore are only entitled to 15 litres of Cauvery water per day per person!

Ground water

How did the tribunal arrive at the figure? The calculation is like this: the total “consumptive” water requirement of one-third of Bangalore and other cities, towns and rural areas is 17.22 tmc ft. Fifty per cent of this requirement will be met from ground water.

The other fifty per cent, i.e. 8.75 tmc ft, has to be met from the river supplies. These figures are arrived at on the basis that 25 per cent of urban population is allowed 135 litres per capita per day (lpcd) while the remaining 75 per cent is allowed 100 lpcd.

In the case of one-third of Bangalore, the tribunal has, however, allowed 150 lpcd. For rural areas of the basin the allocation is 70 lpcd. The total requirement in the three urban categories works out to 8.70 tmc ft and the rural category 8.52. The combined requirement is 17.22 tmc ft, of which 50 per cent (8.75) is to be met from ground water sources.



Consumptive use

Of the remaining 8.75 tmc ft, the actual “consumptive use” is just 20 per cent, which works out to 1.75 tmc ft and urban areas the share works out to 0.87 per cent.

Why only 20 per cent of the actual estimated requirement was allocated?

“Out of 100 units of water initially lifted for domestic use only about 20 units are consumed and the remaining 80 units come back as return flow into the river basin,” the final order says, quoting a past official report to justify allocation of only 20 per cent of its estimated requirement.