City groundwater depletes, woes rise

BANGALORE: Dear contestants, don’t even dare ask for a glass of water if you are campaigning in Bangalore.
Polls are fine, what about paani? It is not just in the districts, even in Bangalore, the water scenario is grim. Groundwater levels are dipping: dry borewells, ‘sinking’ wells, restricted water supply. People want paani, not hollow promises and ‘waterproof ’ politicians.
Water supply will be “comfortable’’ only till June, unless it rains.This is going to be the worst summer in the last three years, warns hydro-geologist M.G. Rajashekar.
Residents across the city, irrespective of whether they have a borewell or are getting BWSSB water on alternate days, admit to water woes. If it is not a drying borewell, it is a reduction in the number of hours of water supply or low pressure.
In C.V. Raman Nagar’s Suddaguntepalya and in Sanjaynagar borewells have no water.
“The water pressure is low. The quantum of water is so little that it is insufficient to fill up our tank. In areas with water lines, connections have not been given. Most borewells in our area are drying up,’’ B.V. Rangaswamy, a Sanjaynagar resident, said.
In Koramangala, residents complain that water levels in the wells have reduced from 10 feet to 3 feet. In Malleswaram, apartments getting corporation water have imposed self-conservation: water supply is restricted to three hours.
The problem is not restricted to some areas. According to Grahak Shakti Consumer Rights Forum managing trustee Somashekhar V.K., this summer it is not just the older areas in Bangalore, like Malleswaram, that will face a shortage.
With the lakes not completely rejuvenated, areas there too may face scarcity. Basavangudi, Hebbal, Sanjaynagar, R.T. Nagar, Doddaballapur, Hessaraghatta, parts of Kanakapura and Vijayanagar may join the ‘dry spot’ list.
WHO stipulates that the norm for water supply is 150 litres per capita per day (PCPD). The BWSSB is currently supplying 120 litres PCPD. It says this is “moderately sufficient’’ and it can’t meet the WHO standards for now.
“We have started pumping an extra 50-60 million litres per day (MLD).We have also enhanced Cauvery IV Stage water supply by putting in a fifth pump,’’ BWSSB sources say. Currently, 860 MLD is being pumped into the city per day.
The BWSSB, catering to 75 per cent of the city, sends tankers through the BCC in the 27 new wards where its network is almost absent.