COVID-19: Water scarcity lurking in crisis?

A post by hotelier Mangalvedkar Jayaram Giridhar on his Facebook wall.

Among the many effects of coronavirus or COVID-19, overuse of water may lead to scarcity, fear a section of people and also experts.

The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), an autonomous body and a registered society affiliated to the Revenue Department of the Karnataka Government, has stopped updating the reservoir level information since March 23, 2020 (https://www.ksndmc.org/ReportHomePage.aspx, https://www.ksndmc.org/Uploads/RL.pdf). However, according to Assistant Executive Engineer of the Water Resources Department, Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) Dam, Thimmegowda, the water level in KRS Dam on Saturday at 6.30 pm was 105.74 feet. The maximum level of the KRS Dam is 124.80 feet.

It has to be noted that major parts of Mysuru, Mandya, Ramanagara and Bengaluru Urban districts get their water supply from the KRS Dam.

As per the statistics provided by the KSNDMC, as on March 23, the water level in KRS Dam was 107.69 feet, compared with 100.67 feet on the corresponding day, last year. The live storage capacity of KRS Dam is 45.05 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic) feet. The live storage on March 23 was 25.06 TMC feet and it was 18.94 TMC feet on the corresponding day, last year. Thus, the present storage is 56 per cent against the full capacity and it seems better, compared with the last year, assuming that the monsoon would begin at the right time and that it would be normal.

Meanwhile, a post by hotelier Mangalvedkar Jayaram Giridhar on his Facebook wall reads: “Coronavirus can lead to global water crisis. If your tap water is running during 20 sec handwash, it will take 1.5 to 2 litres of water, you'll need 15 to 20 litres of water everyday if you frequently wash your hands. A family of 5 will need 100 litres of water everyday”.

“But washing your hands is necessary to stop the virus. So what to do? If you consider to be a responsible citizen, turn off the tap water for those 20 seconds when you rub your hands with soap. If you can convince your folks to do this, you'll be saving 100 litres of water everyday. Be the hero in real life. Be the hero this country needs,” the post reads.

Mysuru-based builder, also chairman of Mysuru chapter of NAREDCO, N Divyesh has shared a similar post on the Zero Waste Mysuru group.

However, what percentage of people follow austerity in using water and how many act judiciously and turn off tap when not in actual use are the questions.