The water woes continue

Summer is in and like every year, a water crisis is staring at the City. With the ongoing rapid development in the City, the ground water table has clearly plummeted and most people in the City are forced to rely on water tankers.

The common complaint from the public is that the supply by water tankers is irregular and that they never charge a fixed rate. Most water tankers are handled by private agencies which don’t have any regulations to make sure the water is delivered to those who really need it.

   The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) too has its fleet of water tankers which will soon have Global Positioning System (GPS). This will enable BWSSB to track the movement of water tankers and regulate water supply.

   People living in the areas that fall under the new BBMP limits have welcomed the move and say that this will bring in the much-needed regulation in supply of water by the tankers. Narayanan TKR is a resident of Padmeshwari Nagar in KR Puram limits. He says that they began buying water after the water from the borewell nearby was contaminated. “The space near the borewell closer to our layout has turned into a garbage dump. This garbage is mixed with water and we were getting water that was yellow in colour. That’s when we turned to water tankers,” he adds. He points out that the supply of water by tankers is a little erratic during summer. “Most of these tankers are operated by private agencies who don’t have a fixed rate but charge randomly. Also, we are not sure where they source the water from but we have no choice but to depend on these tankers,” he reasons.  

 Those living in and around Haralur Road, off Sarjapur Road which connects to Electronic City, haven’t yet got the supply of Cauvery water. Srinivasan P, a resident of Haralur, says that he has to buy water from the tankers once every two days. “The water tankers never come on time and we have to call them in advance and hope they deliver on time. We have also noticed that they don’t stick to a particular charge and keep changing it according to the demand,” he states. Srinivasan wonders why the government hasn’t bothered to sanction Cauvery water connection to this area since it connects all the prime IT offices across the City.

Rukuma Kumar, a housewife who lives near Hebbal, in an independent house, says that she has to depend on water tankers for regular supply. “We have rented out a portion of our house, so I have to buy water once every three days. If you call thrice, they answer the call only once. Most of the time, we end up paying double the amount to buy water,” says Rukuma. She thinks the GPS facility will do well to monitor and weed out corruption while supplying water by the tankers.