<p><br>Bengaluru: Officials and experts on Friday agreed that an integrated management of water informed by research and science and citizen participation was key to avoid a crisis in the coming years.<br>At a session titled, 'For a water secure Bengaluru', Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) chairman Ram Prasath Manohar said use of the treated water was the most effective way to overcome the dependency on Cauvery.<br></p><p>He said that of the 3400 mld water utilised by the city, about 2500 mld comes from Cauvery while the rest is from groundwater. The BWSSB was tying up with the Indian Institute of Science to monitor groundwater usage. "This is the first of its kind efforts to monitor the groundwater pattern on a day-to-day basis using IOT-based censors with AI analytical tools. Going forward we want ot launch an international in Bengaluru so that all the start up companies, technology providers, policymakers and think tanks can come together as a single body to start a mechanism to explore innovative ways to manage water," he said.</p>.DH Bengaluru 2040 Summit | 'AI will shift healthcare from hospital beds to homes'.<p>H S Sudhir, founder of Gubbi Labs, said the government needs to get the low-hanging fruits by restoring the lakes. "The water bodies in Bengaluru were built for irrigation and flood management. It's time to reimagine them as water storage structures besides flood mitigation structures. At the same time we need to restore the canals and drains feeding them. Ten years go, our study showed that 50% of the primary canals are gone," he said.<br></p><p>Sudhir further noted that climate change has made it imperative for governments to adopt measures to cope with weather extremes. "For that we need to integrate research and development (R&D) at every level," he added.<br></p><p>Satish Mallya, president, Bangalore Apartments' Federation said standardisation of the sewage treatment plants (STPs) installed by apartments would boost the usage of the treated water. "There are 3500 STPs in the city and most of them are small plants installed in residential apartments. However, the output from the STP is not the same due to lack of standardisation," he said.<br></p><p>Manohar acknowledged the problem. "The government has a proposal to monitor all the STPs. Meanwhile, we are trying to rope in institutions and private players to increase efficiency at different levels. In Kadubeesanahalli, for example, a private player helped us to turn secondary treated water into ultra pure water.<br>Agreeing that the Cauvery river cannot meet Benglauru's demand forever, Mallya said there was need for an integrated approach instead of one agency (pollution control board) monitoring water quality, another looking into ground water usage and the BWSSB dedicating to supply water. </p>
<p><br>Bengaluru: Officials and experts on Friday agreed that an integrated management of water informed by research and science and citizen participation was key to avoid a crisis in the coming years.<br>At a session titled, 'For a water secure Bengaluru', Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) chairman Ram Prasath Manohar said use of the treated water was the most effective way to overcome the dependency on Cauvery.<br></p><p>He said that of the 3400 mld water utilised by the city, about 2500 mld comes from Cauvery while the rest is from groundwater. The BWSSB was tying up with the Indian Institute of Science to monitor groundwater usage. "This is the first of its kind efforts to monitor the groundwater pattern on a day-to-day basis using IOT-based censors with AI analytical tools. Going forward we want ot launch an international in Bengaluru so that all the start up companies, technology providers, policymakers and think tanks can come together as a single body to start a mechanism to explore innovative ways to manage water," he said.</p>.DH Bengaluru 2040 Summit | 'AI will shift healthcare from hospital beds to homes'.<p>H S Sudhir, founder of Gubbi Labs, said the government needs to get the low-hanging fruits by restoring the lakes. "The water bodies in Bengaluru were built for irrigation and flood management. It's time to reimagine them as water storage structures besides flood mitigation structures. At the same time we need to restore the canals and drains feeding them. Ten years go, our study showed that 50% of the primary canals are gone," he said.<br></p><p>Sudhir further noted that climate change has made it imperative for governments to adopt measures to cope with weather extremes. "For that we need to integrate research and development (R&D) at every level," he added.<br></p><p>Satish Mallya, president, Bangalore Apartments' Federation said standardisation of the sewage treatment plants (STPs) installed by apartments would boost the usage of the treated water. "There are 3500 STPs in the city and most of them are small plants installed in residential apartments. However, the output from the STP is not the same due to lack of standardisation," he said.<br></p><p>Manohar acknowledged the problem. "The government has a proposal to monitor all the STPs. Meanwhile, we are trying to rope in institutions and private players to increase efficiency at different levels. In Kadubeesanahalli, for example, a private player helped us to turn secondary treated water into ultra pure water.<br>Agreeing that the Cauvery river cannot meet Benglauru's demand forever, Mallya said there was need for an integrated approach instead of one agency (pollution control board) monitoring water quality, another looking into ground water usage and the BWSSB dedicating to supply water. </p>