JOIN USMajority of slums denied potable water supply: Report
A large section of slum dwellers, who form nearly 27 per cent of the City’ s population have no access to government water supply, according to a survey conducted by Civic Bangalore.
According to the findings of the survey conducted in 13 slums, more than 90 per cent of the residents are denied of piped drinking water supply and are forced to depend on public taps or borewells to meet their water needs. Majority of the areas received water once in five or seven days. The report notes that water at eight slums was contaminated and unfit for human consumption.
The problem is further compounded as water yield in most of the borewells has gone down and public taps have broken pipes. Moreover, the ratio of taps is disproportionate to the number of inhabitants, thus forcing them to wait for long hours in serpentine queues to fill just a pot of water.
The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), as per the rules, should supply water through tankers to areas that lack access to water.
Right to water
However, the Board has failed in providing water to many such areas, thus, denying slum dwellers the right to water, the report points out. Besides, the water supply at odd hours has robbed the residents of their sleep and affected the studies of children. A number of students either bunk or attend classes late, as they are assigned the task of filling water at home.
In the daily struggle for water, the residents lose out on daily wages, the report states. Slum dwellers from Lingarajapuram, who attended the public consultation on water recently, gave vent to their woes and demanded that they be provided with water at the earliest.
Speaking at the consultation, BWSSB Chief Engineer T Venkataraju said besides supplying Cauvery water, the Board also maintains 13,000-odd borewells in the City to supply water.
Admitting that water mafia in slums thriving beyond control of the Board, he said: “I am aware of water scarcity in the City slums. However, new pipelines cannot be laid, unless new water connections are paid for.”