Pvt suppliers make hay as City water lines get choked

Pvt suppliers make hay as City water lines get choked
Deccan Herald

Need drinking water? Pay Rs 2 per pot! This is not the situation in the dry north Karnataka belt but in ‘cool, green’ Bangalore, where not a day passes without at least a dozen protests against the Cauvery water tribunal.

Need drinking water? Pay Rs 2 per pot! This is not the situation in the dry north Karnataka belt but in ‘cool, green’ Bangalore, where not a day passes without at least a dozen protests against the Cauvery water tribunal.

This paper has received several complaints regarding short supply of drinking water in the last few days. On a reality check, this reporter found people in many localities -- Kalyan Nagar, Vishweshwara Nagar, Muneshwara Nagar, Anand Nagar, parts of Vijaya Nagar, Bharati Nagar and Shanti Nagar -- do face severe drinking water shortage.

Says Ms Victoria of Muneshwara Nagar, “We’ve been buying water paying Rs 2 per pot for the the past 20 days. Otherwise, we would have to buy a tank of water, paying Rs 350”.

“Earlier we used to get water twice a week. But for the last 20 days, there is no supply at all. Everyone in the family is busy fetching water from distant places”, she adds.



‘Pressure’ on pipes

Ditto the the situation in parts of Bhartinagar and Shantinagar Assembly constituencies where many residents rely on private water suppliers. Mr Kannan, a coffee planter residing at Artillery Road, says that for the past three months “we and our neighbours are not getting drinking water regularly”.

“We’ve been purchasing water at Rs 375 for one tank (4,500 litres). On record, we are getting drinking water on ‘alternate nights’, but in reality it is not so. If water is supplied to two streets at once, we would not get sufficient water because of less pressure in the supply pipes,” he adds.

Similar is the plight of residents of Chandra Layout, MC layout, Dasarahalli and Shivanalli. Though they get water on alternate days it the low pressure in the pipes ensure that it is not enough.

First and second-floor residents have no choice but to literally carry water from the ground floor if they do not have sumps or such other facilities.



Midnight queues

Shivalingappa, resident of the Police Quarters, Jogupalya, says drinking water has been a problem “for many years”. “We get drinking water only at around midnight. Sometimes supply is stopped by 2 am itself. Moreover, only two taps have been provided for the quarters with 84 houses and that forces us to stand in long queues at night. Now we bank on neighbouring localities and private suppliers,” he adds.

People living in Deenabandhu Nagar, Gouthampura, Ulsoor, Hoysalanagar face the same problem.

Radhamma of Ulsoor says residents spend nights in queues to fetch water. “Earlier we used to get water till 8 am. But now supply is stopped in the middle of night. If we don’t queue up at midnight, we won’t get water at all.”