Bengaluru water crisis could deepen further, authorities step in to control ‘tanker mafia’
Bengaluru residents have lately been struggling to address a significant water crisis caused by rapid, untrammelled development, complete disregard of the city’s natural water bodies, and a failure of both the southwest and the northeast monsoon in Karnataka.
The prominent metropolitan city in India calls itself home to more than 13 million people. Authorities have started implementing emergency measures, including taking over all irrigation and commercial borewells and mandating registration of every private water tanker.
Simultaneously, Bengaluru residents are also implementing emergency measures of their own and issuing instructions to stop washing balconies and cars, use half a bucket of water for bathing and utilise wastewater from aquaguard filters to mop bathrooms and the floor.
Some people have also been using a “half flush” after daily ablutions and running washing machines on economy cycle. Of the 16,781 borewells in the city’s records, a staggering 6,997 have dried up, as per Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar.
Ongoing Bengaluru water crisis could worsen if …
Shivakumar has instructed authorities to take charge of all irrigation and commercial borewells and stated that water did not “belong to individuals”. In addition, he mentioned that the government was stepping in to control the “tanker mafia”, reported Mint.
Private contractors have been asked to register themselves by March 7, so that the government can ration water effectively. For several days, tankers charging exorbitant rates ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 per tanker have been addressing residents’ daily requirements.
Out of the 236 taluks in Karnataka, 223 have been drought-hit, amid 219 severely affected. An official highlighted that a dry spell affected supply both from the Cauvery River and borewells – counted among Bengaluru’s principal sources of water.
The concerning crisis is likely to worsen if there is no good precipitation in the coming days as already close to half the borewells in the city have dried up. In another measure, tankers owned by the Karnataka Milk Federation are to be cleaned up and deployed to supply water.
