BWSSB to float tenders for TG Halli rejuvenation

The Thippagondanahalli reservoir (TGR) is being readied to receive water from the Yettinahole project by early 2020.

The reservoir is expected to receive 1.7 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic feet) of water. This will be supplied to the western parts of the city.

After having discontinued the water supply from TGR in 2012, a decision was taken to use the water, to be supplied to the city in 2017. However, the plan was later dropped as the BWSSB felt the water would not sustain a continuous supply.

Later, after a decision was taken to divert water from the Yettinahole project and fill TGR, BWSSB came up with the rejuvenation plan. TGR is likely to receive water from the Yettinahole project -- from the Kumudavathi river on the Tumakuru side.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which maintains the TGR and the catchment area, has earmarked Rs 286 crore for the reservoir’s renovation. As part of this, a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) will be set up and dredging (removal of silt) of the reservoir will be carried out.

The Board is likely to float tenders in February 2019, for the construction of a 20 mld (million litres of water per day) STP, along with a TSPS (Treated Sewage Pumping Station) upstream at the convergence point, at a cost of Rs 66 crore.

Dredging of the reservoir includes stacking of the dredged soil and disposal, at a suitable landfill, at a cost of Rs 22.7 crore. The Board has also planned the construction of a 110 mld water treatment plant and refurbishing of the existing pumping facility at Tavarekere, at a cost of Rs 114.8 crore.

Work related to the refurbishment of ancillary structures includes repair work of the dam structure and pumping machinery, at a cost of Rs 8.10 crore. The fencing of the reservoir at a cost of Rs 8.5 crore is also on the cards.

Stressing the need to take up the rejuvenation work, a BWSSB engineer said it was only in 2017 that the TGR received record rainfall. Then, the water level had risen to 68.7 feet as against the full capacity of 72 feet.

TG Halli dam, as the reservoir is popularly known, was built in 1933 at the confluence of rivers, Arkavathi and Kumudavathi.

It was the first source of piped drinking water in Bengaluru and was named Chamarajasagara, a name now almost forgotten.