Can Vrishabhavathi be Bengaluru's Thames?

Experts weigh in on challenges in meeting the city's water needs in the next 20 years

Can Bengaluru's polluted Vrishabhavathi ever become like London's Thames River? And can the water needs of the city's burgeoning population ever be met in a meaningful way? Or is it possible to recreate the 'City of Thousand Lakes?'

These questions and many more related to Bengaluru's water management were tackled by experts during a discussion on 'Self-sufficiency in water: Can Bengaluru achieve it by 2040?' at the DH Bengaluru 2040 Summit here on Friday.

Asked about the desilting lakes and the need to protect them from raw sewage, urban planner and water conservation expert S Vishwanath pointed to the fundamental issues of treating and reusing wastewater. In his view, the ongoing project of building concrete stormwater drains has both pros and cons.

He said: "While natural drains do allow percolation and removal of nutrients, concrete drains have helped increase the intensity of rainfall by three times over the last two decades. A strong water force increases silt in natural drains and lakes."

Veena Srinivasan, a senior fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, suggested that people want concrete drains because they don't want sewage-mixed water to percolate into stormwater drains.

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Explaining the sewage flow in stormwater drains and the resultant pollution in lakes, BWSSB Chief Engineer M Devaraju promised that SWDs in Bengaluru would carry no sewage once the underground drainage network is completed in the 110 villages that were added to the city limits in 2007.

Devaraju said: "Bengaluru's terrain is such that sewage generated in the northern corner of the city runs into Vrishabhavathi and is treated at the Mysuru Road sewage treatment plant. Bengaluru generates 1,400 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage. Though we have the capacity to treat 1,525 MLD, only 900 MLD is treated due to a lack of the UGD network. This problem will be resolved once the network (in the villages) is completed."

Historian Suresh Moona, an audience member, asked why Bengaluru can't learn from the transformation of the Thames from a stinking drain to a tourist destination. He was referring to Vrishabhavathi, a tributary of Arkavathi that has now turned into a dirty drain.

Responding to the question, Veena said: "Vrishabhavathi can indeed become the Thames of Bengaluru. But the challenge is bringing together different (government) departments. The BWSSB handles the treatment plants, the BBMP is in charge of drains and the lakes are split between different agencies. The coming together of these agencies is crucial for such works," she said.

In reply, Devaraju pointed to the Rs 180-crore Koramangala Waterway (K-100) project. "People have to change their perception towards recycling and reusing water. All the water treated in the city has to be reused," he added.

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