A water crisis looms large over Bangalore, with the water flow from Shiva Balancing Reservoir (SBR) coming into the city reduced to a trickle. But Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said water supply to the city and all other urban areas in the Cauvery basin will continue to be normal.
After a meeting with officials of the Water Resources Department and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), CM said on Friday: “There is no need to panic as there is sufficient water in the reservoirs across the Cauvery basin. We have formed a special team of officials to ensure that the available water is equitably distributed to Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya and Tumkur.”
Water to Bangalore comes from KRS and Kabini dams via the SBR to the Torekadanahalli pumping station. Though the Water Resources Department is releasing water at the required rate of 600 cusecs from KRS everyday, only a flow of about 280 cusecs is reaching the SBR.
The water-level at the SBR is currently so low that the BWSSB had to stop 15 of its 60 pumps on Thursday. Water supply to different parts of the city, including Mariyappanapalya, Gayathrinagara, Prakashnagara and Yeshwanthpura, was affected on Friday. BWSSB officials said the agency has pumping 835 MLD in the last few days against the normal rate of 1,150 MLD. With a scarcity of 315 MLD, the city is getting around 73 per cent of its water requirement.
With Kabini reaching dead storage level two days ago, the city is getting water only from KRS, which has less than 1 tmcft of live storage, which can last only a few more days. Officials said they are considering water rationing and the city might get water once in three days. Newly added areas that were getting water twice a week till recently are getting it once a week for just two hours. “We are getting Cauvery water only on Sunday since last one month.,” said Mamata Gowda, a resident.
