For residents of Iblur (near Sarjapur outer ring road), water crisis has become a way of life. They are heavily dependent on water tankers to meet their daily needs. The onset of monsoon has brought no respite to them.
Mallikarjun, a resident, said: “For the past 30 years, the water issue has been persisting. We neither get CMC (City Municipal Corporation) water nor Cauvery water regularly.“
Cauvery water is supplied once in a week and the duration of supply is less, he said. They pay Rs 2 to Rs 3 per bucket of water.
Rajendra Reddy, a house owner, said: “I spend Rs 500 on water tankers to meet the requirements of my tenants daily. Water shortage was not this severe a couple of years ago as we were relying on borewells. But now, even borewells have gone dry.” He claimed that only during elections, water supply is regular and abundant in the area.
M R Thyagaraj, manager of Suncity Corporate Leisure, said that since there are no Cauvery water connections, all 5,000 people living in the 1,500 flats depend on tanker water. He said that though government officials and politicians are aware of the problem, no action has been taken.
BWSSB Chief Engineer Venkataraju, however, said, “Cauvery water connection has been provided to Iblur. The residents are not legitimate consumers of BWSSB, as they do not have water meters. If they apply for installation of water meters, they can enjoy water supply.” He said a single connection can get up to 10,000 litres of water monthly, adding that around 80 per cent of the residents do not have water meters installed and yet demand water.
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