BENGALURU: Even 17 months after the commissioning of the Cauvery fifth stage to supply drinking water to 110 villages on the periphery of Bengaluru, many villages are still waiting for Cauvery.
While the government claims that the water is supplied to 100 out of the 110 villages, residents say otherwise and worry that they have to go without Cauvery water this summer too.
When a question was raised by MLA Suresh Kumar on the status of water supply to all these villages during the Assembly session, which got over recently, Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar said that water supply is delayed in only 10 villages.
In the Mahadevapura zone, these are Varthur, Balagere, Sorahunase, Gunjur, and Panathur. In the Byatarayanapura zone, they are Kattigenahalli, Srinivasapura, Bellahalli, Thirumenahalli, and Chokkanahalli.
Speaking to TNIE, civic activist and co-founder of Varthur Rising, Jagadisha Reddy said, “Government’s claim that the works of supplying Cauvery water in 100 out of 110 villages are completed is far from the truth. Water pipe laying, testing, and laying of underground sewer are not completed in many villages.”
Residents said that they are relying on borewells and private tankers, which charge anything above Rs 1,500 for a 6,000-litre tanker. In areas where there is ‘Sanchari Cauvery’, residents are booking it and getting water at Rs 1,300 for 12,000 litres.
Reddy said every individual needs around 100 litres of water daily, and a family of five have to book one tanker every week. “As the demand increases for private tankers in summer, the rates will be hiked, and residents end up spending nearly Rs 10,000 on water,” he said. In villages where there is a Cauvery water supply, residents are not willing to take the connection, as they have to pay a hefty amount for the connection.
DCM said that the delay in the Cauvery water supply to villages in Mahadevapura was due to the ongoing elevated corridor works and road-widening works where Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) is widening the 60-feet road from the Varthur new flyover to the police station to 100-feet.
He said that water supply pipes have been laid in the villages falling under Byatarayanapura, and they are awaiting the completion of the ground-level reservoir (GLR) at Chokkanahalli. He said that there was an issue related to the GLR land, which was settled in the court last year, and that work was going on.
BWSSB said that ‘Cauvery Connection Centre’ has been set up in the 10 villages.