Bengaluru, (Samajweekly) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday held a high-level meeting on the drinking water crisis in the state, and especially Bengaluru, at the Vidhana Soudha, and said that they had enough water stored in the Cauvery and Kabini to last till the end of June.
Addressing the media after the meeting, he said there is 11.02 TMC water in the KRS and 9.02 TMC in the Kabini reservoir.
Out of 14,000 government bore wells, 6.900 are dry, and hence, the problem had occurred, he said.
The Chief Minister also said that out of 110 villages newly added to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, 55 villages have problems, and 775 MLD of additional water to these areas will be available after the completion of Cauvery Phase 5 work by the end of June.
He also said that they are drilling new bore wells at 313 places and 1,200 inactive bore wells will be revived.
“I have instructed all private tankers, including of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), for supplies to slums, upland areas, and bore well-dependent areas. It has been instructed to increase the number of control rooms and supply water to those areas as soon as complaints are received,” he said.
He said that the number of task forces will be increased to respond to complaints immediately, and instructions have been given not to use drinking water in parks and to use treated water instead.
Instructions have been given to fill the lakes of Bangalore like KC Valley, as well as 14 major lakes that have dried up, he said, adding that this will recharge the bore wells with groundwater.
The Chief Minister also said that there is no shortage of funds for drinking water.
“Officials meet every day and prepare an action plan once a week. Steps have been taken to form an expert committee to ensure that there is no shortage of water in the future. It has been clearly instructed that if complaints are received, the BBMP and the BWSSB will be held responsible. Bengaluru has a water shortage of 500 MLD. Necessary measures have been taken to overcome this shortage,” he said.
He said that people who depend on bore wells have been advised to take measures. As many as 1,700 water tankers have been registered and are being supplied with water from private bore wells, including malls.
Siddaramaiah said that instructions have been given to avoid water problems anywhere and appealed to the public not to waste drinking water.
He said that 2,600 MLD of water is required for drinking and industries in Bengaluru city, out of which 1,450 MLD water is obtained from the Cauvery River and 650 MLD water is available from bore wells, while there is a shortage of 500 MLD water.
To a question about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that there is no money with the state government, the Chief Minister said that it has been five months since the drought and the state is yet to get a single paisa from the Central government.
“We had asked for Rs 18,171 crore drought relief as crops were damaged in 48,000 hectares. Not even a single rupee was provided. What morality does the BJP have to accuse us of not having money?” he asked.
