Daily water supply in city in four years: Katta

Daily water supply in city in four years: Katta

Staff Reporter

‘Inevitable for people to depend on borewells till then’

— A File Photo

a Few years to go: Such scenes of water shortage in Bangalore will be a thing of the past, according to authorities.

Bangalore: If you are dreaming of daily drinking water supply to your house in the near future, then here is some news for you.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which is facing a shortfall of 349 million litres of water a day (MLD) to meet the drinking water requirements of the city, will take another four years to supply water daily to every household.

Katta Subramanya Naidu, Minister for Excise, BWSSB, IT, BT and Information, announced this at ABIDE (Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development), an interactive workshop organised by the State Government, on Saturday.

The board would need 18 more months to provide water to all the newly added areas. “It is inevitable for the residents to depend on mini-water schemes and borewells till then. Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa recently sanctioned Rs. 100 crore for putting up more mini-water schemes and drilling borewells,” the Minister said.

The board would replace old and corroded pipelines at a cost of Rs. 170 crore in the next two years and put up dual pipelines in all new layouts, he said.
No lake privatisation

The Government had decided to stop privatisation of lakes in the city. “We will soon cancel the licences of those lakes that have already been handed over to private firms,” he said.

Responding to the citizens’ demand to continue Self Assessment Scheme (SAS) of property tax in the city, the Minister said the Chief Minister had set up an experts’ committee to decide on the best taxation model for the city. “We will soon call a separate meeting to discuss this,” he said.

Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Shobha Karandlaje was present.