New BBMP wards may lose out

The Bangalore Water Supply And Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which is betting big on providing Cauvery water to newly added areas of BBMP, feels that releasing water to Tamil Nadu will not scuttle its plan, but may cause a few hiccups.

Minister for urban development, law and parliamentary affairs and BWSSB, S Suresh Kumar, had earlier promised that Cauvery Stage IV Phase II project would be commissioned in November.
Sources in the BWSSB said if Cauvery water is released to Tamil Nadu and if Karnataka does not receive good rainfall in September and October, it would be extremely difficult to ensure water supply to newly added BBMP areas by November.

As per the officials of the BWSSB, the city is getting 12-13 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) of water from the dam annually.

To meet the future demand of about three lakh connections (for newly added areas of BBMP), it requires 19 tmc ft of water annually. It is said the project will add 50 crore litres of water every day.

Engineer-in-chief of BWSSB, T Venkataraju, said, “Releasing water from the dam is a state policy and we cannot comment on that. We heard that there is good inflow now and hope that there would be good rainfall in the month of September and October. As of now, the BWSSB is providing connection to six lakh households and once the Stage IV Phase II gets commissioned, about three lakh (more) households will get potable water supply. We are hoping that we will meet the demand.”