BENGALURU: With the summer expected to be more severe this year, some 7,082 villages across Karnataka and 1,193 wards, including in Bengaluru Urban district, are vulnerable to drinking water crisis in the coming months as per an assessment made by the govt as of Feb 10.
A report by the revenue department has identified the most number of villages in Tumakuru district (746) and the most number of wards in Uttara Kannada. In Bengaluru Urban district, 174 villages and 120 wards are shown as vulnerable.
All 31 districts have villages likely to be affected but there are nine districts - Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Mysuru, Mandya, Raichur, Bidar, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu - where zero wards are shown as being vulnerable.
According to revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda, to counter this, the government has identified 6,416 borewells across districts other than Bengaluru Urban and formalised agreements with 2,654 of them to supply water, albeit as a short-term measure.
He said that as per an Oct 10, 2023 order, Rs 324 crore has been disbursed to the deputy commissioners of districts for emergency drinking water and livestock conservation. As of Jan 2024, Gowda said, the district calamity personal deposit (PD) accounts together have Rs 736 crore, while the calamity PD accounts operated by tahsildars have Rs 131.9 crore.
12 lakh citizens to depend on tankers, borewells until MayAlso, as of Feb, the govt said 46 taluks spread across 18 districts were facing drinking water problems already and that services of 58 tankers and 183 private borewells are being used to supply water to 156 villages in these taluks. Of these 183 private borewells, most are in Haveri (39) while Vijayapura is using the services of 36 tankers. A similar exercise is under way in 12 wards of four urban local bodies - Bengaluru Urban, for instance, is using 20 tankers - as per the revenue department.
Bengaluru's woes are also being addressed by the BBMP and BWSSB. That Cauvery Stage V, providing 775MLD of water to the 110 villages annexed in 2008 - the most affected parts of the city - could be commissioned only in May means around 12 lakh residents here will have to suffer a harsh summer depending on water tankers and borewells that are drying up quickly.
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