BWSSB submits action plan for Vrushabhavathi revival

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has submitted an affidavit to the high court, listing short- and long-term measures for the revival of Vrushabhavathi River.

Vrushabhavathi is a tributary of Arkavathi River which, in turn, is a tributary of Cauvery. Vrushabhavathi originates at the Bull Temple in Basavanagudi and flows through South and West Bengaluru before joining Arkavathi near Kanakapura.

Presently, Vrushabhavathi is nothing more than a dirty drain, carrying sewage and wastewater from the city.

Geetha Misra, a Bengaluru-based lawyer, has filed a PIL petition in the high court, urging it to direct the authorities to check large-scale pollution in Vrushabhavathi and revive the river.

The BWSSB's affidavit, filed in response to the petition, lists measures to revive the river based on a report by the National Environmental Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI).

Filed by B C Gangadhara, Chief Engineer (Waste Water Management), BWSSB, the affidavit states that the board would raise the total sewage treatment capacity from the present 150 MLD to 531 MLD by March next year. A new sewage treatment plant with additional capacity is also under construction at Nayandahalli, Mysuru Road, the affidavit adds.

The BWSSB claims to have completed a survey of primary drains up to 76 km besides identifying 1,780-point sources of sewage/house service connections, which it would plug and connect to the sewer system by March next year. A survey of the remaining stretch (224 km) of secondary/tertiary drains will be completed by the end of this year, the affidavit states.

One of the long-term measures to check pollution is to arrest wastewater from external sources. According to the BWSSB, it has laid sewerage systems multiple times, including installing STPs in the 110 villages added to the city limits in 2007, at a cost of Rs 700 crore. This project is expected to be completed by 2024, the affidavit states.

The BWSSB also plans to upgrade all the existing STPs at a cost of Rs 500 crore to meet the latest standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board and the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

A division bench headed by Justice Satish Chandra Sharma posted the matter for hearing to October 21 to enable the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to submit their responses.