The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) says it has already started to supply Cauvery water to the residents of 10 out of the 110 villages under the BBMP limits. The water is being supplied in a phased manner.

These villages, belonging to the erstwhile Gram Panchayaths till 2007, were completely dependent on borewell water before. Even today, the main source of non-potable water here is borewell. For drinking purpose, residents buy water cans. The Board has set up a few filtration plants.

Although water pipelines set up the Panchayaths exits in some villages, BWSSB has taken up the task of laying its own infrastructure. The Board officials say about 80% of this work is now complete. In terms of kms of pipelines, this works out to 2,070 kms, out of a planned network of 2,583 kms.

In some villages, house service connections too have been laid, but supply has not been commissioned as the Board is still in the process of laying the main lines. These are higher capacity pipes from where water is drawn. The water pipeline laying project was launched in April 2017 at an estimated cost of Rs 1,886 crore.

Besides water supply, BWSSB says it has also taken up the work of laying underground drainage (UGD) early this year at an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore. But only four per cent of this work has been completed. Of the total 1,568 kms of UGD lines planned, only 63 kms has been laid so far.

Lack of a UGD network in the 110 villages has forced residents to let out their waste water into the lakes here. The Board claims that in another three years, all the 110 villages will be equipped with both water and UGD facilities. However, as DH reporters fanned out to these villages, residents were not so convinced about the timeline.