Amid growing concerns over depleting groundwater table in Bengaluru, the Karnataka government has made it mandatory for all the apartment complexes in the city to avail the Cauvery water connection.
The government, on October 16 last year, commissioned the Cauvery V Stage drinking water project at a cost of Rs 4,336 crore in partnership with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to provide piped water supply to the 110 villages on the outskirts of the city.
These villages were added to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (Greater Bangalore) limits in 2007 and are spread across 10 Assembly constituencies, which suffer from severe water scarcity and are relying on water tankers.
The reluctance of residential apartments to avail the connection fearing high costs of installation, has posed a challenge to the government as it has spent huge money on the project and is also incurring a loss of Rs 1,000 crore annually.
“We have already provided 15,000 new connections and another 20,000 connections are in the pipeline, under the 5th stage of Cauvery Water Supply Scheme – the drinking water project which is expected to yield 775 MLD,” said Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who chaired a meeting of civic agencies on Tuesday, and instructed the officials to submit a report on the proposed revision of water tariff.
“BWSSB suffers an annual loss of Rs 1,000 crore as water tariffs were last revised 11 years back, though the utility costs have been increasing. The monthly electricity bill has increased from Rs 35 crore to Rs 75 crore, and the additional operational costs have caused a monthly deficit of Rs 85 crore,” said Shivakumar adding that a hike in tariff was inevitable.
“The BWSSB has consulted city MLAs, but banks and funding agencies like JICA are hesitant to provide loans, citing BWSSB’s financial losses. To sustain operations and expand the water network, a tariff revision is essential,” he explained.
While BWSSB officials will carry out a door-to-door campaign to encourage citizens to avail the new connections, it will also identify illegal water connections for regularisation. The government will soon introduce a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme to recover the water bill arrears from existing consumers.
Currently, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board supplies treated Cauvery water to the city’s core area under the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme – Stages I, II, III and IV, that has a total installed capacity of 1440 MLD. The Cauvery Water Supply Scheme - Stage V yielding 775 MLD of water is expected to quench the thirst of the 110 villages that are entirely dependent on private water tankers.
Last April, the city suffered a severe water crisis after the borewells dried up. Of the estimated 16,781 borewells, only 7,784 were operational and 6,997 had dried up. As nearly 50% of the city’s population has depended on the borewells and water tankers for their drinking water needs, the CWSS V stage has come as a boon. However, the residential complexes are hesitant to opt for the connections fearing exorbitant costs and are hoping that the BWSSB holds public consultations to fix nominal charges.
