We are facing a water crisis; Wake up

What we always knew was reinforced when a recent BBC report gave Bengaluru the dubious distinction of being in second place in the world (behind São Paulo, Brazil) for "missing". drinking water "

. ] That Bengaluru is heading towards a water crisis with serious implications for the availability of drinking water and public health is quite well known. Already, we receive much less water than the standard for domestic water consumption prescribed by the Central Organization of Public Health and Environmental Engineering, which is 135 liters per person and per day.

The current water supply in Bengaluru is about 100 liters of water per person per day, of which cooking, drinking water and bathing require about 20% – the rest being used for non-drinking purposes such as flush toilets, floor cleaning and car washing.

Bengaluru supplies drinking water to remote locations. Previously, the Arkavathi Basin provided water to Bengaluru via the Hesaraghatta and Thippagondanahalli reservoirs, which had to be replaced in the 1970s by the Cauvery River, some 100 km away. With stages I to IV of Cauvery, the government has partnered with the Japan International Cooperation Agency to provide a loan for the implementation of the Cauvery Water Supply Stage V project. This will increase the availability of the project. Cauvery's water even though we will be paying huge costs and will incur considerable transmission losses. More water from the Nethravati River is also being planned.

Bengaluru became very dependent on both Cauvery, the main source of drinking water, and annual rainfall. Weather data show that the city receives sufficient average annual rainfall which should be a good source for rainwater collection throughout the city. Unfortunately, citizens are not sensitive to BWSSB's campaigns to promote rainwater harvesting and replenish groundwater supplies. Harvesting rainwater is mandatory, but compliance seems to be very dismal, indeed.

Another integral part of the city's water management, its lakes have disappeared over the last four decades – only about 70 of the 272 lakes that were in and around the city survive. The government itself has annexed dozens of lakes for bus parks, stadiums and residential complexes. Previously, the Bengaluru Lakes had a storage capacity of 35 tmc-ft (one thousand million cubic feet) of water and were interconnected to ensure sustainable water availability all year round. The current storage capacity is less than two tmc-ft of water, while, according to an IISc study, the city's only monthly requirement is 1.5 tmc-ft.

To compound this problem, several million liters of untreated sewage are dumped daily into lake watersheds. The city's Bellandur, Varthur and Ulsoor lakes have already become victims. The sewage lines in Bengaluru have not been planned and are not well maintained. The large BWSSB wastewater treatment plants are required to be located outside the city, forcing people living in complexes with 50 or more apartments to build smaller factories and start recycling the building. water using their own purification stations.

Groundwater Exploration

The shortage of water has led to the proliferation of wells, particularly in city centers, resulting in mbadive depletion of groundwater, making Bengaluru a "Hot spot" where groundwater mining is

A current urban study document revealed that Bengaluru surpbades its groundwater by 155%. This means that for every 100 liters of groundwater replenished, 255 liters are extracted. Disturbingly, much of the 2.07 billion liters of groundwater that is extracted each year contains contaminants of iron, nitrate and fluoride.

Enter the tank truck union. In summer, the activities of tanker trucks are at their peak, especially on the outskirts of the city where there is no water supply from Cauvery. The most poorly kept secret among citizens is that tankers extract water that they see everywhere in Bangalore. The 3,000 to 4,000 tanker trucks use wells located everywhere: nearby lakes, rice paddies, private homes and even cemeteries.

Despite the Karnataka Groundwater Act, 2011, which restricts and regulates the extraction of groundwater, households, apartment complexes, commercial establishments and water tanker companies exploit the Aquifer indiscriminately. Private tankers are allowed to operate without prescribed commercial licenses. No authority verifies the quality of the water supplied, especially the source of water, although each tanker must be registered with the RTO.

Urban growth, neglect and unpredictable rainfall combine to make the city dry. Bengaluru citizens need to learn water skills and become aware of their responsibility for water. We must focus on preserving lakes, installing rainwater harvesting systems in all apartments, houses, parks, playgrounds and using treated wastewater to recharge groundwater. We must wake up – the water crisis is already here!

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(The author is Associate Professor, Sai Vidya Institute of Technology, Bangalore)