Supply from Thippagondanahalli may be stopped by month-end

Supply from Thippagondanahalli may be stopped by month-end

The Hindu

BWSSB is sourcing only 30 million litres of water a day from the reservoir

# Recently, pumping was reduced to 50 million litres of water a day
# A good spell of rain may help ease the situation



SOME RELIEF: A resident of Gayathrinagar collecting water from a tap, after a protest was staged in Bangalore on Sunday. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

BANGALORE: Water crisis is expected to hit a new high this summer in Bangalore with residents staging protests in various parts in view of the scarcity.

Water supply from Thippagondanahalli Reservoir, one of the main sources for Bangalore, is likely to be stopped by March 31, sources in the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board told The Hindu.

From a supply of 135 million litres of water a day, the water board reduced it to 50 million litres of water a day recently.

It is now sourcing only 30 million litres of water a day from the reservoir. This will be the first time in five years that the reservoir level has dropped so alarmingly and pumping may have to be stopped, the sources said.

"Last time, we faced a crisis like this was in 2002. But we hastened up the Cauvery IV Stage, Phase I, and pumped about 200 million litres of water a day to the city. This was an extra 100 million litres of water a day, which more than met our needs," an official from the water board said.

"Also in 2002, the city had not seen this much development and so we could manage with the available water," he added.

With no new projects, Cauvery waters, for the second time, will be pumped to serve the needs of the city. This will mean that the water board will have to resort to rationing water supply as the quantum of water it can source from the Cauvery remains at 810 million litres a day. "We are hoping that it rains soon so that Thippagondanahalli Reservoir receives some water. But the problem with rationing water is that we will face more protests from residents," the official said.

The western and the northern parts and some areas in north-east of the city are supplied water from the reservoir. They include Chandra Layout, Vijaynagar, R.T. Nagar, Sanjay Nagar, Gayathrinagar, Subramanyanagar, Malleswaram, D.J. Halli and Pillana Gardens.

One of the reasons for the water shortage is the increase in the number of water connections. While there are no figures for illegal connections, BWSSB has increased its connections by about 1.5 lakh in the last two years.

The water board is trying to tackle the crisis by taking up the restoration of mini water tanks and hand pumps. There are 3,000 mini water tanks and 3,250 hand pumps in the city. It is estimated that 20 per cent of these have failed.

The BWSSB move to source water from the Hesarghatta Reservoir has also run into problems with farmers protesting against the move to regenerate borewells in the area, the sources said.

For now, only a good spell of rain can help ease the situation.

Alternatively, work to get an extra 100 million litres of water a day from the Cauvery, which project is due to be completed by August, has to be expedited.