Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday held a meeting with the officials of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the energy department.
“Today I had a meeting with BWSSB, BBMP and the energy department. In Bengaluru, out of 14,000 borewells, 6,900 are dry. All lakes have almost dried. 2,600 MLD (megalitres per day) of water is required for Bengaluru every day…In June, we will provide water to all 110 villages around Bengaluru. We have sufficient water in Kabini and KRS dams,” said Siddaramaiah.
“We are expecting monsoon in the first or second week of June,” he added.
In Bengaluru, about 50 per cent of the borewells have dried up.
On March 11, the Bengaluru civic authorities had said the drying lakes would be filled with 1,300 million litres per day of treated water to replenish groundwater sources in the city.
The BWSSB, the civic body, will also install filter borewells and construct water plants using an innovative technology near the restored lake beds to supply water after testing, the board officials had said.
As part of the plan, lakes in Bellandur, Varthur, Nayandahalli, Herohalli, Attur and Jakkur were to be refilled initially.
BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasath Manohar had said that it was expected to add about 20–30 MLD of water into the system.
Moreover, the Karnataka government has also taken over private water tankers to tackle the water mafia.
“About 50 per cent of the borewells in the city have dried up. We have decided to take control of thousands of private water tankers (by registering) to supply water from sources outside the city. We have left the pricing to officials as factors like distance travelled determine costs. Unused milk tankers will be used to ferry water,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had said.
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