Bethamangala reservoir dry

Bethamangala reservoir, which was supplying to the town from the past 100 years, has now dried up. Water in borewells has also depleted and the residents are forced to buy tanker water everyday.

Earlier, Bethamangala reservoir was enough to meet the water requirement of the town. The British had constructed a reservoir and had brought fresh water from there to the town through pipes. The same water also being supplied to their bungalows at BGML colonies. Now, the reservoir has dried up due to lack of rain.

More than 400 tankers supply water to the town everyday. The owners collect Rs 2 for one pot of water. Most of the residents are dependent on tanker water. The rich buy water cans.

Karnataka Water Supply and Drainage Board supplies water to areas in Robertsonpet. The City Municipal Council is in charge of supplying water to mining areas. At present, the town has 340 borewells and water drawn from three borewells among them is being pumped into a tank. Water available in 170 borewells is being directly supplied to citizens through pipes. Despite doing all this, the water board supplies water to the town only three days in a month.

In Robertsonpet, the daily requirement of water is 75 lakh litres. But the water board is getting only 5.50 lakh litres. According to its own guidelines, 135 litres of water should be provided to each man a day. But it can only supply 35-40 litres of water. That too, not on a daily basis.  The tanks around the town have been encroached upon and consequently, their water storage capacity has come down. Rajakaluves which supply rainwater to tanks have also been encroached upon.All this has led to water drought in the town.
DH News Service