The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board had warned it would disconnect connections to those who did not comply with order.
It’s deja vu all over again! the authorities have postponed
the deadline to make installing rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems in Bangalore mandatory.
The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) had warned that it would disconnect water connections of the households that do not install RWH systems by December 31, 2011. However, the ‘final’ deadline—which came after several extended deadlines—was extended by three months on Wednesday. The new deadline is March 31, 2012. MK Shankarlinge Gowda, commissioner, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), announced the decision, on Wednesday.
During the BBMP council meeting, both the ruling and opposition party corporators, raised the issue of water problem in their wards. They demanded the presence of BWSSB engineer-in-chief (EIC) in the council and pressed for immediate action to solve the problem. The corporators accused the BWSSB of serving a double whammy: even as it has failed to supply drinking water, it is threatening to disconnect water connection if people do not install RWH systems. They said RWH should be made mandatory only after each household in Bangalore starts getting proper drinking water.
JD(S) leader Padmanabha Reddy said even though the BWSSB has not given water connections in his ward, it has not failed to collect Rs50 from people who have borewells and Rs72 every month as meter charge.
“Why should the public pay the amount to BWSSB when they are not getting the water from BWSSB?” Reddy said.
In response, BWSSB EIC, T Venkataraju, said the government has formed an expert committee, which is chalking out short- and long-term measures to provide drinking water. He said the report would be released by the end of March 2012 and action would be taken on it.
Regarding extending the RWH deadline, Venkataraju said he needed to consult the BWSSB minister Suresh Kumar. Meanwhile, BBMP commissioner directed the EIC to talk to the minister on the issue. Gowda then said he himself would talk to the government on RWH and later announced the extension of the deadline.
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