Balanced growth can ease Bengaluru’s water stress

The summer has arrived in Bengaluru, bringing with it the familiar water crisis. In his book 10 Rules of Successful Nations, Ruchir Sharma emphasises the need for the spread of rising wealth to the remote parts of the nation. He says, “Any lopsided ratio of the population between its largest city and the second largest city is abnormal”. This finding offers a vital clue to the persistent water crisis of Bengaluru city.

Closer to Bengaluru, and within a radius of 150-200 km, there are several tier-II cities such as Mandya, Hassan, Mysuru, and Chikmagalur with a congenial climate like Bengaluru.

These cities have better access to the river Cauvery or its tributaries. Furthermore, the proximity to the Western Ghats brings higher rainfall in these cities when compared to Bengaluru. While Bengaluru, hailed as a premier IT destination, grabbed all the attention of the planners and investors, these tier-II cities were sidelined and left without access to the wealth.

Consequently, they lagged in development, even as people migrated to booming Bengaluru from these cities and worldwide. The outcome: the city’s population which was about 4.5 million in 1991 exploded to around 14 million. 

Its area – just 225 sq km at the turn of the century – expanded to over 700 sq km with the incorporation of villages and adjoining urban agglomerates.

Along with the lopsided expansion, the demand for water increased, triggering agencies to scramble for sources. While the water demand for the city rose to 1,905 MLD (million litres per day) in 2011, the supply lagged at 960 MLD; the same shot up to 2,820 MLD in 2021 whereas the supply still languished at 1,460 MLD, thus widening the gap. Now, the projected demand and supply for 2026 are 3,437 MLD and 2,235 MLD respectively, with the gap alarmingly wide at 1,202 MLD.

The skewed expansion, coupled with the limited sources of water, have set up this supply-demand-supply game to prevail in Bengaluru for decades with no end in sight. As the game goes unabated, none is aware how far Bengaluru will expand, how many towns it will subsume, and where all this will end, even as Bengaluru is closing in on its neighbouring cities – Ramanagara in the West, Tumakuru in the North, and Kolar in the East. Whereas the city seems unfettered in expanding in all directions, the same doesn’t hold good for the water resources.

Water is not infinite in the Cauvery. It is not only limited by hydrology but also by tribunal awards. Drawing water from the distant river Krishna or a river from the Western Ghats for thousands of kilometres looks enticing on paper but is fraught with risks. The biggest risk is – what if Bengaluru doesn’t stop at, say, Tumakuru, Ramanagara, and Kolar; what next? The eternal assumption that water is infinite for Bengaluru will only spell doom.

Implications of inaction

The only way out of these recurring water woes is to acknowledge the reality that Bengaluru’s water crisis is primarily the outcome of its limitless investment, and concentration of wealth followed by its unlimited expansion – the “unknown unknown” of its current water management. Those smaller cities starved of investment and left behind by Bengaluru need urgent attention in terms of the redistribution of wealth.

Investment, development, and wealth should go to these tier-II cities commensurate with their resilience to cope with the water demand. To emphasise, there is a need to reverse the migration towards Bengaluru. That is the only plausible way to overcome the city’s water crisis – and certainly not drawing water from rivers all around.

Measures such as water harvesting and groundwater recharge cannot resolve the crisis. The city needs out-of-the-box mitigation models. Ruchir Sharma is right. Unless the limit is drawn urgently for Bengaluru’s unchecked expansion and wealth concentration, nature will in itself draw the boundary. There is already talk of an exodus of companies from Bengaluru, mainly driven by the water scarcity. The summer is here. In a matter of months, discussions have shifted from the deluge to an acute shortage of water. It’s a paradox shaped by the march of Bengaluru’s lopsided expansion.

This summer crisis is only a wake-up call. Unless the stakeholders shift their focus towards the real problem of unchecked wealth concentration and unfettered expansion, Bengaluru will have its task cut out as it navigates its future.

(The writer is Director, Central Water Commission; views expressed are personal)