As summer nears, there’s enough water for everyone’s need, not greed

As Bengaluru prepares to face a scorching summer, citizens are worried about the potential water shortage that could hit the city.

While the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) continues to receive only 1,450 million litres a day (MLD) irrespective of the season, the increasing demand and dried-up borewells and open wells could pose a challenge during summer.

At present, the city receives 1,450 MLD from Kaveri river and is also highly dependent on borewells and open wells. There are close to 15,000 public borewells and it is estimated that 500 MLD of water is drawn from them across the city.

But BWSSB chairperson N Jayaram told DH that the situation is not alarming.

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“We have been managing with the same quantity of water for years now. We are servicing the public borewells and will ensure tankers are sent to areas where there is shortage,” he said.

While the core areas are less likely to be affected, the peripheral areas which depend heavily on borewells might face a shortage since many borewells and open wells have dried up. The lack of Kaveri water supply in the periphery has left residents with no option, but to depend on borewells or water tankers.

“Nearly 60 per cent of the population continues to depend on borewells either partially or completely since BWSSB has failed to lay pipelines,” said Ramprasad V from Friends of Lakes (FOL).

‘Curtail water overuse’

The situation calls for a deeper understanding of the usage pattern, a BWSSB official said, implying that the citizens have been using way more than the standards, creating an artificial shortage.

“According to the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation standards, the average consumption of an Indian is 135 litres per capita per day (lpcd). Considering the population of Bengaluru, the city is, in fact, getting more water than required from various sources,” the official said.

Ramprasad said there is a huge disparity in usage among people.

“In Bengaluru, water usage among people is highly variable. There are many who use close to 350 lpcd. At another extreme, there are those who use only 50-60 lpcd,” he said.

Water conservationist Vishwanath echoed the thought and opined that there is a need for judicious use of water.

“People need to be mindful about use of water. Since it is available at a subsidised cost and people don’t pay the true cost of getting water from Kaveri, there has been irresponsible use,” he said.

Jayaram said people have been using Kaveri water to clean their premises, wash cars, and for other purposes.

“Ideally, water supplied by BWSSB should only be used for drinking and cooking purposes. Recycled water could be used for other purposes. But that is not the case in many households,” Jayaram said.

As an example, a BWSSB official said many houses in the city were yet to implement rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems.

“Nearly 43,000 of the houses that are supposed to implement RWH according to the norms are yet to instal them. We are collecting at least Rs 1 crore in fines from them every month. It is obvious that many are not even harvesting rainwater and there is clearly no intent to use other sources of water,” he said.