BENGALURU: To put an end to the daily leak of 34 million litres of Cauvery water per day (MLD) from the ground level reservoirs (GLRs) spread across the city, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has begun the process of rectification of these old structures this month.
Of the 1,340 to 1,345 MLD being pumped from TK Halli Reservoir to the city since October 2016, nearly 700 MLD are pumped to 56 reservoirs before they are supplied to households. The only problem is that the GLRs are between 35 and 70 years old.
“Detailed analysis done by BWSSB recently revealed that major cracks present in just 15 of these reservoirs contribute to a daily leakage of 34 million litres. We are now systematically and speedily rectifying this,” said P N Ravindra, Additional Chief Engineer, Management Information Systems, BWSSB.
“Priority will be given to six GLRs through which we can check the leakage of at least 24 million litres per day,” he said. Three out of the four reservoirs located inside CJF, Malleswaram, a 40.86 million litre (ML) capacity reservoir at High Grounds, a 20 ML capacity reservoir on Bull Temple Road and a 15 ML capacity reservoir at MNK Park will be rectified on top priority, he said. The three GLRs at CJF have a storage capacity of 63.6 ML, 40 ML and 16 ML respectively.
“We had entrusted the work of carrying out a comprehensive study of the GLRs to Tata Consulting Engineering. Based on their report, we plan to issue tenders to hire a consultant to submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on the rectification, rehabilitation and retrofitting of the reservoirs,” Ravindra said.
“After the DPR is out and the cost details are worked out, we can contract the civil works to an agency by April,” he pointed out.
When asked about the reasons for the delay in plugging such huge loss of water over the years, the ACE said, “There was an apprehension earlier that water supply will get disrupted to areas catered to by the reservoir if work begins on these structures. We have now found a solution to tackle this.”
Express first broke the story on the leaking GLRs and the daily loss suffered by the city on August 22, 2016.
Engineer-in-chief Kemparamaiah had then told this reporter, “The BWSSB is keen on repairing them but stopping supply to reservoirs to carry out repair works could affect water supply across the city considerably.
The reservoirs need to be closed for a period ranging between two and 15 days for the repairs to take place.”
Elaborating on the solution, Ravindra said that mammoth pipes which can store water and maintain the pressure so that they stay inside will be installed. “By September 2017, the first set of six GLRs will be rehabilitated. By end of 2018, the remainder will be set right,” he added.