Govt to ration water to tackle scarcity

The State government will ration drinking water to address shortage this summer, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday.

The Water Resources department has been taking adequate measures to ensure there is sufficient drinking water in the coming summer months, the minister told reporters.

Given the depleting water levels in the State’s reservoirs, including in the Cauvery basin (KRS), Bommai said a special meeting of officials from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the Water Resources department and the engineering division would be convened on Tuesday to work out suitable measures.

He said farmers in the Cauvery basin had been told not to take up sowing of summer crops this season. The department’s priority is to meet the drinking water needs during summer and ration it on the basis of availability in the reservoirs, he said.

“Water levels in all the reservoirs are indeed low. Hence, farmers have been asked to not grow water-intensive crops like sugar cane and paddy during summer. The government will take extra measures to ensure there is no drinking water shortage in the entire Cauvery basin, including Bangalore. The citizens need not worry,” he said.

He said the agriculture department would be advised to direct farmers to shift to drip irrigation in order to conserve water. About 40 per cent of water can be conserved if the method is followed effectively. “Drip irrigation will be adopted in around one lakh acres in the Hemavathi command area and 35,000 acres in the Kabini command area. The government will upgrade canal distribution network at a cost of Rs 330 crore this year and the work will be completed within six months,” he said.

Bommai said tenders had been called for the execution of the Yettinahole project and the government was firm on implementing it. The minister said the government had failed to impress upon private firms to take up de-silting work in reservoirs, and as a result, it had been forced to seek the assistance of the Union government. He said efforts would be made to lift silt from reservoirs every year.

He said the Centre should not notify the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal without consulting the State. “Karnataka has repeatedly sought an appointment with the prime minister. We will appeal to him to consider our stand before notifying the final award,” he said.