BENGALURU: The copious rainfall last year has ensured a comfortable position for the city on the drinking water front this summer with reservoirs brimming with water. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is also gearing up to face any eventuality by deputing 35 nodal officers for water crisis management during summer and readying nearly 15,000 borewells to ensure additional water supply.
A total of 1,450 Million Litres Per Day (MLD) of water is being pumped to the city daily from the Thoraikadanahalli reservoir in Mandya district, approximately 95 km from Bengaluru.
BWSSB Chairman N Jayaram told TNIE that an additional 500 MLD is also being utilised by the city from its borewells. “To be ready for summer, we have kept nearly 15,000 borewells in a state of readiness, including the 7,000-odd ones handed over to us by the BBMP. The work of maintaining and rejuvenating them has been completed. We have in place a separate supply channel to send borewell water from the ones having a good yield to the ones which require them. A sum of Rs 3 crore is spent in maintaining them every month,” he said.
The chairman said the 70 water tankers owned by BWSSB will also be kept ready to distribute water free of cost in areas wherever shortage is reported.
Engineer-in-Chief, BWSSB, B Suresh, said a nodal officer was deputed to each of its 35 sub-divisions from March 1 to oversee the water situation on a daily basis during summer. “Employees who are not a part of the maintenance division have been deputed to this role. They will be based at the sub-division only from March to May and their chief responsibility will be to ensure that there is no water crisis under their jurisdiction by coordinating regularly with the maintenance staff, he said.
Stating that no shortage is expected this summer, Suresh said the Krishnaraja Sagar Reservoir has 33.17 tmcft of water while Kabini has 11.89 tmcft. “We are actually in a very good position this year,” he added.