BENGALURU: Water crisis looms large, but the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board doesn’t seem to have any specific plan to deal with the situation.
A BWSSB official said there are some contingency plans such as reviving borewells, but nothing substantial has been thought of. They say plans and decisions will be made as and when the situation arises.
Kemparamaiah, Engineer In-chief from BWSSB, says, “At present, we require 19 tmcft water annually for Bengaluru. As on date, we have the required water so there is nothing to worry. For another seven months, that is till May, we need 11.5 tmcft of water, which we will receive. We have communicated this to the Cauvery committee as well. Other than Cauvery, the only other source of water is groundwater. We have not decided anything on what options will be considered in case of shortage. If such a circumstance arises, we will take the necessary steps.”
Experts have suggested innumerable options, starting from exploring lake water to rainwater harvesting to water recycling. In fact, the alternatives suggested by an expert committee set up by the state government in 2011 was to divert 30 tmcft of water from Sharavati river through Linganamakki reservoir.
Another alternative proposal was water from Barapole river. It originates in Kodagu and goes into the Arabian Sea via Kerala. BWSSB maintained that they are not considered feasible, particularly since Linganamakki is 360 kms away from the city. However, irrigation experts say the first priority should be to check unaccounted for water and stop water leakage.
Surveys say that the city’s dependency on Cauvery will increase further with the increasing population. Bengaluru will require an additional 8.19 tmcft of water annually by 2021.