The mandatory rule for RWH in all buildings within BBMP limits would be stringently implemented, all government buildings in the city would be made RWH compliant
BANGALORE: The state government has drawn-up a three-pronged action plan --- Rain Water Harvesting (RWH), rejuvenation of tanks and reuse of water flowing down the storm water drains (SWD) --- to meet the rising water needs of Bangalore city in the coming years.
A high level meeting of BBMP officials and experts from Indian Institute of Science chaired by IT, BT and BWSSB minister Katta Subramanya Naidu approved the plan on Friday.
The mandatory rule for RWH in all buildings within BBMP limits would be stringently implemented, all government buildings in the city would be made RWH compliant and all the 875 parks in the city would have RWH facilities.
Water from about 30 tanks in and around Bangalore would also be used for domestic purposes. "These tanks would be rejuvenated by desilting and clearing encroachments. This would also help in raising the ground water level," Naidu said.
Lakhs or litres of rain water that go down storm water drains in Chellaghatta, Koramangala, Hebbal and Vrishabhavati vallies would be recycled. About 10 mini reservoirs and treatment plants would be built to store this water. The treated water would be supplied for non-domestic use.
The BWSSB is now supplying about 850 million liters per day (MLD) of water for Bangalore and "we have drawn up plans to see that at least 20 per cent of the demand is met through recycled water in the years to come. The works in this regard will be taken up soon", Naidu said.
Restructuring BWSSB
The BWSSB itself would be decentralized to ensure better service for the citizens by splitting it into 4 divisions: north, south, east and west with a chief engineer helming each of them. Each division would cater to the needs of 7 of the 28 assembly constituencies in Bangalore city.
These divisions would have separate wings for storm water drains and sewage treatment plants.
Unauthorised connections
The BWSSB is losing a whopping Rs750 crore annually due to lakhs of unauthorized water connections in the city and the state government is all set to constitute an exclusive wing to detect and meter all these illegal connections.
Of the 850 MLD of water being supplied by BWSSB, only about 450 MLD is being billed. About 150 MLD has been accounted for public taps, fountains and gardens and another 150 MLD is being lost due to leakages. The remaining 100 MLD is being drawn by unauthorized connections.
The proposed detection and revenue enhancement wing would detect the illegal connections and meter them. It would bring an additional income of about Rs730 crore to Rs750 crore to the BWSSB every year, Naidu said.
Leakages too would be plugged through replacement of leaking pipes, he added.
No privatization of water supply
The minister denied reports of privatization of water supply in Bangalore. "There is no proposal or pressure for privatising water supply. BWSSB will continue to serve the people," he assured.
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