Bengaluru Losing Out on 10 Million Litres of Water Daily for the Past One Month

BENGALURU: At a time when the city is facing a water crisis, 10 million litres of water have been going waste daily for the past one month. This is due to a  problematic valve in a transmission pipeline leaking water. The pipeline supplies drinking water to the city from the Cauvery.

It was only on Saturday that the BWSSB chairman had warned of a severe water crisis.

The pipeline from Thoraikadanahalli (T K Halli) to Harohalli pumping stations, which has a diameter of 2.7 metres, forms part of the Cauvery Water Supply I Phase project, commissioned in 1974.

The air valve, which has suffered the damage, is located near Gundapur village, which is 80km from Bengaluru. The valve is located inside a fully closed 20x30 valve house.

“An outlet has been created by the BWSSB staff at the backside of the valve to let the leaking water flow out so that it does not flood the valve house,” a source said. However, the water does not go waste entirely as farmers from the surrounding villages have been using it to water their crops and carry out other irrigational activity, three separate sources confirmed.

A resident, who requested anonymity, said that the BWSSB engineers did not act on their complaints about the wastage of water.

The city gets 1,400 MLD of Cauvery water daily, of which 135 MLD is supplied under the Cauvery First Stage.