Are you taking the Cauvery for granted?

Bangalore gets the most expensive treated and piped water in the country. The city will also soon boast of the biggest water pipeline in India. Still, we remain thirsty and callous.

During DNA’s interaction with people, especially for the ‘Bangalore Demands’ series, a majority of the complaints by citizens was about the lack of water supply. Dry throats cried hoarse in Bangalore.

We have to examine the water shortage in the backdrop of two important announcements made last week. One was the inauguration of Cauvery Stage IV Phase 2 project work and budget allocation of Rs450 crore for new Bangalore areas and Rs100 crore for the city’s core areas to replace old pipes.

The Cauvery Stage IV Phase 2 project will supply 500 MLD (million litres daily) of water. The cost of the project is nearly Rs3300 crore. In fact, the government had accorded administrative approval to the scheme on June 8, 2005, and the project was slated to be completed by 2009-2010. The target now is 2012.

An expert committee was constituted in 1958 to study alternative water supply. The Cauvery water supply scheme Stage 1 was given the go-ahead in April 1964. Stage I, II and III bring 540 MLD of water and Stage IV Phase brings 270 MLD.

Bangalore’s water demand is 1225 MLD. The BWSSB manages to supply 890 MLD and the shortfall is 335 MLD. The demand is real but the supply at the user’s end is always short of what the authorities claim. This is mainly due to leakages and theft. It amounts to almost 37%.

However, water board chairman PB Ramamurthy says that wastage of water through leakage in the pipelines will be checked. The valves installed by BWSSB, he says, “will help in checking leakage and ensure equitable distribution.”

As one official claimed, if the leakage is down to15% it would amount to saving  water equivalent to commissioning one more Cauvery project. If this is true, it is time the water board utilised the budget grant of Rs100 crore to mend leaking pipelines.

This task of replacing old pipes is easier said than done and Rs100 crore may not be enough. Bangalore has nearly 8,000 km of pipeline network. To its credit, BWSSB has been managing its operations in a well-organised manner. It has gone e-way and recently won an award.

Now, we have to do some serious planning at home to conserve the expensive water coming from your tap. Consider this: Cauvery water is extracted from the Shiva anicut, about 90km from Bangalore. This water flows to the Netkal Balancing reservoir 8.8km from the anicut.

From the Netkal reservoir, water reaches Torekandanahalli (T K Halli), in Mandya district, a distance of 9.6 km. Here, the water is treated at the 425 acre facility. From TK Halli it is pumped up to reach Bangalore, about 500 metres in elevation.

All this consumes about 60% of BWSSB revenue. In real terms the agency spends Rs19 for 1000 litres but we pay only Rs15. Call a tanker and they will charge Rs300 for 1000 litres.

Tap your imagination and save water.