JOIN USHeat leaves urban areas high and dry
Searing summer heat and drought have hit piped water supply quite hard in urban areas. According to a report on drinking water crisis, prepared by the Department of Municipal Administration (DMA), residents of about 300 wards in various urban local bodies (ULBs) in the State are no longer getting piped water supply.
And for those in 400 wards, including residents in Anekal, Bangalore Urban district, and all the four ULBs in Bangalore Rural district, water is supplied only once a week... in trickles.
Of the 4,780 wards covering 214 ULBs in the State (excluding Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike), only 1,348 wards are supplied water daily. The frequency in all other wards is once in two to seven days.
Water crisis in urban areas has turned from bad to worse in the last two months. It is expected to deteriorate further in the coming days, official sources in the DMA said.
Water scarcity is more severe this year because of the dry spell in the last seven months.
The scene is worse in urban areas than in the rural parts of the State. The situation will improve only when it starts raining. A majority of the ULBs are depending on underground water for drinking purpose. The water table has depleted because of drought, rendering drinking water borewells useless, B S Shivakumar, Superintending Engineer in DMA, explained.
Worst affected
Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumkur, Chamarajnagar, Haveri, Bagalkot, Koppal, Belgaum, Chikmagalur and Dharwad districts are the worst affected.
Residents in the ULBs of Vijayapura (Bangalore Rural district), Nippani, Bailahongala, Chikodi (Belgaum district), Haveri and Savanur (Haveri district), Mudhol (in Bagalkot district), Kundagol (Dharwad district)) and Bangarpet (Kolar district) get fresh drinking water only once a week, the report says.
Udupi, Mandya, Shimoga, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Hassan districts have by and large remained unaffected by drought, the report adds.
Shivakumar said the DMA has empowered the deputy commissioners of the affected districts to take appropriate decisions to tackle the crisis. Directions have been issued to efficiently manage available water and sink new borewells. It includes making use of private water tankers and borewells.
Of the about 300 tankers used for supplying water, 241 are privately owned. Private borewells are taken on rent to supply water to the worst-affected places, he added.
The DMA has so far released Rs 10 crore for sinking borewells. It is over and above what has been provided for under various municipal works to the ULBs, he said.
* Piped water supply has been stopped in about 300 wards
* About 400 wards get water once a week
* Only 1,348 wards of the total 4,780 wards get daily supply
* Situation has deteriorated in the last two months