No water woes this summer

BANGALORE: For Bangloreans, there''s good news on the water front. After reports that there would be water problems, comes the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB)''s assurance that there will be no water woes this summer.
The BWSSB says it has chalked out measures to ensure that the supply of drinking water is not affected in summer. And how do they plan to do it? Water will be stored in Kabini reservoir and used in summer, officials add.
"As a contingency measure, we have stopped pumping water from Kabini.Right now, nearly 400 cusecs of water per day is being pumped from Shiva achcut which can be used till June. After that, we will switch to Kabini. We can draw one TMC water from Kabini daily", BWSSB chairman M.N. Vidyashankar told The Times of India.
Currently, 100 per cent of water supply to the city is catered to by the Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir (KRS) which also covers Tippagondanahalli''s share of water supply.
"On January 4 last year, the TG Halli reservoir which gets water from Arkavathy river, dried up. Subsequently, pumping was stopped. TG Halli used to cover 20 per cent of the total supply to the city — 120 MLD which was supplied to Bangalore west and north areas", he said.
Vidyashankar added, "as of now, water in T.G. Halli reservoir is 16 ft while a water level of 40 feet is needed for pumping. The maximum capacity of the reservoir is 74.8 feet."
Since 100 per cent water is being drawn from the Cauvery first, second, third and fourth stages after the TG Halli reservoir dried up, the BWSSB''s power bills have also shot up — from Rs 12 crore to Rs 18 crore per month.
"Cauvery water is pumped from a distance of 100 km from Shivanasamudra near Mysore. A balancing reservoir in T.K. Halli has a water treatment plant where water is clarified and pre-clorinated. From a depth of 1,100 feet, water is pumped to Harohalli, Tataguni and subsequently to the various ground level reservoirs in the city."
"Earlier, the total water supply to the city was around 670 MLD — 120 MLD from TG Halli and 135 MLD each from Cauvery I, II and III stages, whereas the requirement was 850 MLD. After the Cauvery IV stage, phase I was commissioned, it brought in an additional 270 MLD of water to the city, of which the BWSSB utilises 210 MLD."
So how long will the water last? "Till June, situation on the water front is comfortable. We expect rain in February, March and April which will keep us going in summer. But to avoid any kind of crisis, like the one we faced last year, we have maintained a good storage level in Kabini. However, if rain fails to arrive on time, the situation may be a little dicey," he added.