Civic activists said the government is treating the issue at the symptom level when the disease (groundwater depletion) has progressed to threatening levels.
Mantri Alpyne Apartments on Uttarahalli Main Road
Call it irony. The once ‘City of Lakes’, Bengaluru, is running helter-skelter to find water for daily use.
Roopa Nagaraj was least bothered about the irony when she animatedly explained the water scarcity to someone over the phone. The president of Ganga Nivasigala Kshemabivruddi Sangha (GNKS), a residents’ association in Jnananbharathi, the 43-year-old woman is fed up with calls demanding water.
At the other end of the phone was a man, who had received a complaint from his two sisters living in the 13th block of the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) apartment complex. They have not received water so far. Also a resident of the same complex, the man sounded least concerned about the water shortage in his residential block.
Roopa explained the timings to the man. Water will be available only twice — once in the morning and then in the evening. His sisters should be at home to collect water when the taps come alive.
The summer of 2024 has rescheduled the lives of Bengalureans, whose lives now revolve around water supply timings.
The BDA apartments, a gated community, at Valegerahalli near Jnanabharathi on Mysuru Road has over 1,400 single-bedroom flats, around 500-plus 3-BHKs flats, and around 250-plus 2-BHKs flats. The complex has three borewells and one of them has gone dry. The residents are dependent on the remaining two borewells.
“We are often on tenterhooks whenever we are flooded with calls from residents. When one resident complained of no water in the bathroom, another resident would call up to say there is no water in her kitchen,” Roopa Nagaraj told South First.
Considering the gravity of the situation, the residents association decided to implement the rationing of water and supply it in a staggered manner at specific times. “We have informed all residents, but some are still upset with the association office-bearers. We are helpless,” she said as her phone kept buzzing.
GNKS vice-president Sadhana was visibly agitated. She had just received a flood of complaints regarding disruption in water supply.
“While those working from home could collect water at the scheduled timings, several others have sought permission from the offices to stay at home to collect water. We have even witnessed quarrels between residents over some collecting water in huge tanks,” Sadhana told South First.
At another apartment complex on the Kommaghatta Main Road near Bandemutt, an IT professional had left his flat temporarily and checked into a paying guest accommodation, which has a guaranteed 24×7 water supply. However, not all could leave their homes like the techie.
Several Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) are now running campaigns to create awareness about conserving water. They are encouraging residents to use non-potable water (treated STP water) for non-consumption purposes such as gardening, washing vehicles, etc.
Apparently, apartments and gated communities — especially those located in and around the 110 villages that were included in the city corporation limits — are the worst hit. The work of the Cauvery Vth stage, to provide water, is still underway in those areas.
Meanwhile, the RWAs of a few upmarket apartments and gated communities in Bengaluru have prohibited residents from washing their vehicles. One of the apartment complexes at Kanakapura in South Bengaluru has urged its residents to use disposable plates, glasses, and wet wipes so that the water meant for cleaning plates, glasses, and hands also could be conserved.
Some RWAs have also warned of imposing an additional charge if they fail to cut their water consumption by 20 percent. One RWA even deployed security personnel to monitor the wastage of water.
Meanwhile, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) said the core Bengaluru areas are unaffected since Cauvery water is being supplied.
“However, water supply to the areas where the poor live, such as slums inside the city, are suffering from water scarcity. We are supplying water to them using tankers,” BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasad Manohar told South First.
The water tanker operators and commercial borewell owners, meanwhile, are worried after the Karnataka government decided to take over the tankers and the borewells.
“This is an annual three-month summer business and this will last only until the onset of the monsoon. We have invested lakhs of rupees to re-bore our borewells and also have invested in water tankers,” a water tanker owner said on the condition of anonymity.
“If the government takes over our business, what would we earn and how can we recover the investment,” he asked.
“We charge ₹600 to ₹800 a tanker with a capacity of 5,000 to 7,000 litres to deliver water within a three-kilometre radius. Beyond the minimum radius, we take anywhere between ₹1,200 to ₹2,000, depending on the distance since we have to use additional fuel,” he said.
BWSSB Chairman Manohar said around 650 water tankers have been registered with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) till Tuesday, 5 March. “There are at least 1,500 to 2,000 water tankers in the city. A total of 3,200 tankers have been registered with the various RTOs. However, they include milk and fuel tankers.”
Meanwhile, civic activists said the government is treating the issue at the symptom level when the disease (groundwater depletion) has progressed to threatening levels.
“The groundwater table has depleted to menacing levels prompting the borewell owners to dig deeper to source water even after the Karnataka Groundwater Authority declared the entire Bengaluru city as a red zone,” Sandeep Anirudhan, the Convener of Namma Whitefield and Citizens’ Agenda for Bengaluru, said.
He said corruption, paying guest accommodations, and illegal borewells have led to the city’s present predicament.
“All paying guest accommodations are illegal constructions. The owners drill illegal borewells and use them till they run dry for banned construction work. After construction, they steal water from Cauvery water pipes without meters,” Anirudhan said.
Many say this is happening all over the Whitefield area. Paying guest accommodations have become a menace in the city. They violate laws, convert the suburbs into concrete slums, and steal water from every source, causing misery to everyone else,” he further alleged.
“Meanwhile, the ordinary citizens do not get water from BWSSB, and public borewells have also dried up. Many poor residents buy water for ₹5 per pot. Residents who have BWSSB connections allege that they receive monthly bills of ₹500, and are charged interest, despite not receiving any water for months,” Anirudhan added.
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