Dhobi ghats desperate: Water shortage leaves Bengaluru washermen high and dry

Bengaluru: The city’s ongoing water shortage has hit several dhobi ghats hard, with workers calling this the worst crisis in years.

Mahesh, chief secretary of the Rajajinagar Washermen’s Association, the worst hit in the city, said workers depend on just one borewell. “Three other borewells giving us water have dried up, while a solitary one has very little water,” he said.

To conserve the limited water, the 35 workers usually engaged in washing and drying at the ghat now work in smaller groups of five to 10 per shift. They have also slashed their daily orders from 4,500 to 5,000 pieces to only 2,000 to 2,500, which allowed their income to plummet from Rs 1,000 to barely Rs 500 a day.

At Vyalikaval

At the Vyalikaval dhobi ghat, authorities said they are managing with limited water as always, but workers who spoke anonymously said they have been asked to keep quiet about the crisis. “We are not allowed to talk about it,” said Ramesh (name changed).

Ramesh and two other women workers admitted that the ghat, with both hand and machine-washing facilities, is struggling to function normally.

“Only two of the three wells are functioning,” said an elderly worker at the ghat, adding that the borewell water they use for personal needs is also insufficient. “We wait for rains, but even that does not bode well since we cannot wash and dry clothes in the open.”

Their daily load of bedsheets, blankets and towels from a few nearby hospitals and hotels have not reduced.

At Gavipuram, Halasuru 

Over at the Gavipuram dhobi ghat, workers use tanker water, while the ghat near the Halasuru Lake now survive on a freshwater well and a borewell on their premises. But workers are concerned about the operations if the situation does not improve by April.

Rains in late March: IMD

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that Bengaluru should have received 14.7 mm of rain in March, but so far there is no precipitation.

It predicts dry weather next week (March 15-22), but the way clouds form during the day and dissipate in the night, there should be normal rain by the fourth week, said A Prasad, scientist ‘D’ at IMD.