Integrated water MGMT needed to avoid crisis in Bengaluru: Vishwanath Srikantaiah
As Bengaluru is reeling under a severe water crisis and the government is looking at Mekedatu or drilling of more borewells as solutions, noted water conservation expert Vishwanath Srikantaiah, in conversation with The New Sunday Express, said there is enough water, but only if it is properly managed. The founder of Rainwater Club, Director of Biome Environmental Solutions and Trustee of Biome Environmental Trust said there is an immediate need for a wastewater policy and implementation of Jala Samvardana Yojana Sangha 2.0, besides the need for an integrated water management system.
How severe is water crisis?
Those who have Cauvery water connection — which is 1.1 million — there is no real crisis. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) pumps 1,470 million litres per day (MLD). At least 25-30% of the population is dependent on groundwater, either through their own borewells or through water tankers. For them, there is a limited amount of crisis. Especially in the periphery of the city, there has been a crisis over the last three months.
How bad is the crisis in areas outside Bengaluru?
It is very severe. But with the treated wastewater going to Kolar and Chikkaballapur, the groundwater table is high and there is no crisis. In other places, the drought and water crises are severe.
Will Bengaluru go the Cape Town way?
What happened in Cape Town was that the reservoir supplying water to the city started depleting and going dry. But Bengaluru is dependent on four reservoirs. Two of them — KRS and Kabini — directly supply water. There is a backup with Hemavathi and Harangi. The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) says there is about 43 TMC feet of water. The dams will not go dry till July. Bengaluru needs about 10.8 TMCft of water. There is enough and more water in the reservoir if water is used judiciously. We will not become a Cape Town. But, for parts dependent on groundwater, we will have to find solutions quickly.
What led Bengaluru to this?
One of the reasons why there is a crisis in eastern and south-eastern parts of the city is because Bellandur and Varthur have been drained of water and have not been desilted over the last five years. The Cauvery 5th Stage, which will supply 775 MLD, has been delayed by a year. If the lakes had been desilted on time and filled with rain or treated wastewater, there would not have been a crisis. This is the perfect storm for Bengaluru.
If the government was serious about rain water harvesting (RWH), would this problem be there?
It would have solved a part of the problem. It is important that citizens get involved in RWH. There are about 1.8 million RWH structures, some of which are dysfunctional. There should be at least 10 million structures. The last rain came in November. There has been a long period of dryness.
How much do sewage treatment plants (STPs) help?
There were 36 STPs of BWSSB capable of treating around 1,440 MLD, but are receiving 1,059 MLD. BWSSB is investing Rs 1,600 crore in upgrading STPs. We need to negotiate a space where wastewater is also available for Bengaluru. We do not have a wastewater reuse policy but a wastewater treatment policy.
What is the status of traditional wells in Bengaluru?
Many wells had become dysfunctional. Thanks to traditional well diggers, they have been cleaned up, even community wells in Malleswaram, Basavanagudi, Basaveshwaranagar and other areas have been recharged with rainwater. Around 12,000 old wells in Bengaluru have been brought back to life. Well-diggers have dug up 2.5 lakh recharge pits at Cubbon Park, Lal Bagh and other parts of the city. This momentum should go up, even a million recharge pits are not enough for the city.
Have recharge pits shown satisfactory results in improving groundwater table?
Wherever there is a concentrated application of recharge wells, they have shown immediate results in that area. For example at Rail Wheel Factory and Indian Institute of Management. Wherever we identify sub-aquifers and recharge them rigorously, we can find immediate results and when it is done in a dispersed manner, results take time.
What are the precautionary measures we need to take now to avoid a water crisis from being repeated next year?
We have 36,000 lakes and tanks in Karnataka. There was a programme called Jala Samvardana Yojana Sangha (JSYS) with World Bank aid in 2008. With this 3,900 tanks were desilted, catchment areas and feeder channels cleaned and tank user groups formed. But now it’s forgotten. There is a need for JSYS 2.0 now. For urban areas, more strategies are needed and one of them is to build capacities to understand groundwater and aquifers better, recharge them and then regulate groundwater. BWSSB does not have a hydro-geologist till now. Groundwater cells should be set up in all cities and towns and groundwater management plans should be drawn up, using funds available in Amrut 2.0. With the proper utilisation of groundwater and treated wastewater, we can drought-proof and climate-proof ourselves.
How bad is encroachment in Bengaluru lakes?
Terrible. Construction debris is being dumped. Builders are dumping soil and moving into lake areas. Despite attention from courts, lakes continue to be in a terrible shape.
Rain is poor and Cauvery catchment area is affected. How it will impact B’luru?
Reports from IISc and others have shown that forests and Cauvery catchment are on a steep decline. Without Cauvery, Bengaluru cannot survive. Bengaluru should worry about Cauvery catchment instead of being obsessed only with lakes and it is the city’s responsibility. There is no River Basin Institution and a management plan.
What is your opinion on the Yettinahole project?
Yettinahole and Mekedatu are ecologically disastrous. The government has invested Rs 20,000 crore in Yettinahole and not a drop of water has come to us. We have to look at local waters and local protection.
The government says Mekedattu is the solution to address Bengaluru’s water problems. Is it really so?
We have been allocated 284.75 TMCft by the Supreme Court. But the city is currently drawing 19 TMCft, 6.67% of Karnataka’s allocation of Cauvery water. With additional 775 MLD coming in, we will take another 11 TMCft. Our deputy chief minister is saying another 6 TMCft is available. So its 30 TMCft, which is 11% of Karnataka’s allocation. Water is pumped from Thorekadanahalli (or TK Halli) at 6 am and it comes to your house at 7.30 am. By 9am it is in the STPs. By 11.30am it’s in Kolar. Bengaluru is just a pit stop for Cauvery water. Bengaluru also adds 600 MLD of groundwater to it which goes down as wastewater. The question to ask ourselves: Are we happy to send 2 crore litres per hectare for sugarcane or use it to support the slum dwellers for the whole year? There is enough and more water in Cauvery. If it is well managed, we do not need any future dams.
What can be done to create awareness among children on water conservation?
We can set up rainwater harvesting systems in schools. Give children a rain gauge and water quality testing kit. Students of Grades 6-8 with the help of teachers can check whether water is potable and how much rainfall occurs. It’s a beautiful, elegant tool for water literacy and functional. This education programme should be launched at a mass level.
Has it been done anywhere, and how has it worked?
We are doing it in some schools. Eight years ago, at a school in Pavagada where fluoride content was high, children were asked to collect samples from 10 villages, because they would all come from those areas to the school. Collected water samples were mapped and tested for fluoride with the help of their teacher. The report was sent to the DC who in turn sent it to the government and asked for setting up RO (reverse osmosis) plants or do something for fluoride mitigation. This is the power of educating schoolchildren in a practical sense.
What about the private tanker mafia?
Private tankers are a construct of state failure. Operating tankers is like a market economy. If the prices of private water tankers have to be brought under control, the government should increase the supply of water with its own tankers, instead of capping prices of private tankers.
How can the water stress be reduced?
We don’t have to worry too much. We will get around 2,270 MLD from Cauvery in the next three months. And 660 MLD from groundwater. We have 500 MLD rainwater and 2,000 MLD treated wastewater. Total is around 5,000 MLD. There is enough and more for a population of at least 40 million people. If it is managed well, we don’t have to go far. But the only plan the government has is to ship water from Cauvery, Mekedattu, Linganamakki and Yettinaholle.
Will using TG Halli reservoir water help?
It will, definitely. Already a lot of money has been invested in setting up a 135 MLD STP. We have a 150 MLD plant at V-valley. If water from here is used to fill Arkavathi and allow it to flow, put a wetland and let it cascade, adding the natural rain that comes, then we have an additional 135 MLD along with Cauvery water. A Singaporean company had prepared a DPR. But then it takes one bureaucrat or one minister to say “I don’t like this idea”. We have a report, we just need to execute it.
Where is the mismanagement by BWSSB, why are we discussing this and why has the City reached this stage?
The government has under-invested in BWSSB consistently. When Vidya Shankar was chairman, they were planning to take World Bank assistance and studied how many employees are needed per 1,000 connections, etc. They put a cap on recruitment. But that was when Bengaluru was fast exploding. That was when they needed good engineers to be able to plan holistically. They do not have hydrogeologists. So, groundwater does not exist for BWSSB. There is no social development unit. So slums don’t exist for BWSSB. There is a need for a robust institution with good chief officers. There is no financial strength, they depend on Japan International Cooperation Agency to invest.
So who should be held accountable then?
Some call BWSSB as “Cauvery Water Supply and Sewerage Board” and not “Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board”. Lakes are under BBMP, groundwater is managed by Groundwater Authority, Wastewater by Minor Irrigation Department. Where is the total institutional plan for water for the City? The government needs to strengthen the BWSSB. As it is, it does not have the required wherewithal to deal with the situation. That is my opinion.
Can you give us a fair outline of how an integrated system can be created?
A very quick and easy solution is to create a groundwater cell and have human resources. It must have competent hydrologists who are able to map a proper groundwater management plan. Bring all groundwater regulations, refilling, use and price into play. Create a wastewater reuse cell where you have specialists who know how the 59 STPs treatments have to operate and with what quality and reliability and how they will be reused for Bengaluru first and then the other districts later. If you do these two things properly to start with, then it will be alright. It is not much and it will need just 20 people to start to do this.
What about the cost at which water is supplied? Should it be hiked?
The proposal has been pending before the government for three years. The BWSSB calculation says it takes Rs 42 to get 1 kilo litre of water to us. But if operations and maintenance cost, capital cost, debt servicing and sinking fund is added it is Rs 95 per kilo litre. A domestic house pays Rs 7 per kilolitre for the first slab, Rs 11 per kilolitre for the second, and if above 20,000 litres there is a subsidy of Rs 1,650 per month. The cost to collect water and sent to STPs for treatment is not even discussed.
What are the challenges to desilt a reservoir? If you look at Krishna or Cauvery, the capacity has come down due to silt accumulation.
Lots of studies have been done. In fact, CWC has a report. In reservoir design, a dead storage can be created. If that is crossed, then it is a worry. The silt is somewhere above the sluice gate. Some reservoirs are exceeding the silt load. There is a need to figure out how to desilt reservoirs. One way is to push it down the river because the delta and rivers need silt.
The government wants to drill more borewells and tubewells to give us water. Is it the right thing to do?
That is the optics of crisis management. If the groundwater table has collapsed, the borewell you drill will not get water. If the borewell gets water, it will deprive the surrounding borewells of water. The net gain for the community is zero.
Then what is the way?
The way to go is to make sure the aquifers are filled so that the existing borewells have water. The government says there are 13,000 borewells of which 6,900 are dry. There are 5 lakh borewells in private hands. We are not talking about how many of them are dry.
Will a good monsoon improve percolation or do we have to do rainwater harvesting on a large scale?
We have to do RWH harvesting at a large scale. We have to make sure that the ridge lines and every apartment building pushes down the water. We have to desilt our lakes and keep them fresh for rainwater.
How many monsoons do we need for good percolation?
There is so much deficit that the first few rains will only be absorbed by the top soil for it to remain moist. We need 100 mm of continuous rainfall for two to three days for that.
But that will flood B’luru!
Floods are localised. Water clogging, bad roads and others will lead to water-logging, not flooding. The solution to flooding is RWH. The manual says every square meter of area collects 60 litres of water. So if it’s followed, there will be no floods. Excess water on roads has to go to lakes for which the government needs to invest and ensure sewage does not enter stormwater drains. To avoid floods, the government needs to invest in a sewage network.
What is your message?
Use water judiciously. Be mindful of water, and share it with others. Put aerators in taps. Push the state to get its responsibility. We should hold elected representative accountable.