Bangalore with its diversity and continuous development seems to face one problem in particular that it’s proving unable to tackle. We’re talking about the water crisis. It’s a problem so serious that it can bring the entire city to a standstill, yet appropriate measures aren’t being taken. We’re putting it away as a problem of the future, while in fact it’s already happening. It’s already affecting us citizens. It should be treated as an immediate concern. The water crisis in Bangalore is no joking matter. Only when the city goes totally dry will the people wake up and try to take action, but it would be too late. Let’s look at some aspects of this water crisis.
Causes of this problem:
1) Rapid “development” to blame?
We had very severe water shortage back in 1970s, when Bangalore’s population was just 1.62 million while as per the 2011 census, it stood at 9.62 million. Over a period of 30 years from 1970 to 2000 the population grew by 244%, while in the ten years between 2001 and 2011 itself, it grew by 47.18%. In the 1960s, the number of tanks and lakes was 280 in Bangalore, which dwindled to less than 80 by 1993. While the water needs of the city were met by these tanks and lakes, the number of lakes kept coming down due to development and encroachment and hence since 1970s, the scheme to pump water from the Cauvery river by raising the water up by 500 metres was introduced.
Back in 2001, the demand for water was 750 million litres per day, while the actual supply was only 570 million litres per day and the per capita usage was about 105 litres per day as against the national standard of 150 litres per day. These figures must have gone up by leaps and bounds in the last decade because of the sporadic development activities and increasing encroachment of land by land sharks.
Years of rapid urbanisation, a swelling population and poor water management have led to drying taps, falling groundwater levels and filth-frothed lakes that can burst into flames. Bengaluru is paying a heavy price for its success since marketing itself as a tech hub in the late 1990s and attracting top firms including Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Google. Even as the city struggles to quench its current thirst, towering residential condominiums and glass-and-steel office blocks sprout to accommodate an inflow of migrants, worsening the problem.
2) Over-population
The revised master plan for the city, published by the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), has predicted that city’s population will increase by approximately 8 million and reach 20.3 million between 2019 and 2031. According to a study by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), the city will become uninhabitable in the next few years if its population continues to grow at this alarming rate. This population growth has put a strain on the city’s natural resources and led to the depletion of lakes and wells.
3) Groundwater abuse
Even the Cauvery water that two-thirds of Bengaluru receives is not sufficient due to the Supreme Court ruling which limits the amount of water that can be released to the city. Due to inefficient city planning, the newer areas are forced to depend on tankers and borewells. A survey by the Indian Institute of Human Settlements pointed out that the per capita groundwater availability is rapidly declining — in 1951 it was 14,180 litres a day, by 2001 it reduced to 5,120 litres, and is expected to come down to 3,670 by 2025. A total of 21 major cities are estimated to run out of groundwater by 2020 and 54 per cent of wells in India are seeing a fall in water levels.
4) Loss of green cover
According to a report published in the Journal of Environmental Management by scientists from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore, the green cover of the city has fallen from 68.2 percent in 1973 to 6.46 percent in 2017. Rapid felling of trees to suit residential needs is to blame. Adequate green cover plays a vital role in binding the soil and helps in keeping ground water levels high. The Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act of 1976, obligates any authority to plant ten trees for every one tree they cut. However, the pace at which the trees felling takes plays overpowers the slow growth of saplings to mature enough to be effective green cover for the city
Human consumption and industrial use
According to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the city of Bengaluru requires 1450 mld (Million Liters per Day) of water on a daily basis. And somehow, 25% of this water goes wasted and unaccounted for every single day. About half of the city’s water consumers use only 65% of the water they need, while 10% of users swallow up more than double the average consumption. This careless abuse of water needs to be tapped. Literally.
Last year, the Karnataka government had revised the tariff of water drawn from reservoirs, canals, lakes, dams, and used for industrial purposes by nearly 100 times, from Rs 3,200 to Rs 3 lakh for every million cubic feet (MCft). More than 70% of 52,545 companies use water from these resources. That’s a move in the direction of progress.
Hear from the residents:
College student, Reuben Cherian, who lives in Taverekere, had this to say, “The water crisis affects me personally on a daily basis. Half the day there is no water coming out of taps. It’s very inconvenient. When I first came to Bangalore last year, I was amazed by the development and infrastructure, but now that I’ve lived here for a while, I learned about the water problem. The only solution is to move to house that has a borewell, so that I’m not affected by the sporadic supply of water.”
Sandeep Anirudhan, co-founder of Coalition for Water Security — a group of experts working on solving the water problem — called the issue an emergency that must be dealt with at the earliest. “Already, water is being auctioned to highest bidders in some areas of the city. If this is not a case of emergency, what is? Borewells have reached depths of 1,500 feet and below. This is catastrophic already,” Anirudhan said.
There are solutions..
1) Rainwater harvesting
All building owners, especially the huge apartment complexes, malls, office buildings and multiplexes have to be compelled to harvest the rainwater. Bangalore, with annual rainfall of 900 mm (3.0 ft) has three different rainy seasons covering nine months of the year. June to October is the rainy season accounting for 64% of the total annual rainfall in the S-W monsoon period and 324 mm (1.1 ft)during the N–E monsoons (November – December.). If rainwater can be effectively harvested, it would soften the blow of the water crisis to a huge extent. Owners of houses who grow trees, harvest rainwater and help in conservation of water should be given incentives by way of tax-rebates or rainwater harvesting should be government sanctioned altogether so that the burden of expense does not fall on the common man. Although the water doesn’t seep through anymore because of the concrete everywhere, there are ways around it. People should be made more aware about rainwater harvesting methods.
2) Restoration of lakes
Encroached lakes should be immediately recovered and the lakes developed with the cooperation of the local citizenry. There are citizens who are taking the initiative themselves to help restore lakes. After months of research and study on the city’s lakes, 38-year-old techie Anand Malligavad is all set to rejuvenate 45 lakes by 2025, with the work already in progress.
3) Cloud seeding
In May 2019, the Karnataka government set aside ₹91 crore for cloud seeding, to be spread over two years. Cloud seeding is a process that uses chemicals to aid precipitation in clouds, to help increase the chances of rain and some relief to the drought-hit population of the state. India needs more research and documentation on the efficacy of cloud seeding through observation and numerical experiments. If we have no observations of rainfall using well-calibrated radars and rain gauges, it will be difficult to talk about success or failure. It matters to each one of us how much rain reaches the ground. For example, if the environment is too dry, the rain that is developed may evaporate while in the atmosphere itself. We need to document the environment (moisture, winds, temperature, etc.) in which these clouds are growing, understand the background aerosol conditions and their physical and chemical properties, etc. However, that only means more observed experimentation, so to say Karnataka is moving in the right direction when it comes to cloud seeding.
4) Responsible water use
Reduce, reuse, recycle. Here’s an essential list of measures we can take to conserve water in 2019. To quote Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev in a recent event “The biggest misunderstanding the people have is that they think a river is a source of water, a well is a source of water, the lake or a pond is a source of water. These are not sources of water. These are destinations to which water has come.” We must not abuse these destinations of water. Water is the most priceless resource. Our bodies are 60% water. Water wastage is an immensely irresponsible and immature thing to do in this day and age.
Conclusion:
All the politicians, planners and citizens should think not just of today but the future too and realize that fresh water is a scarce commodity and all of us have the responsibility of saving it for our children. Water is one of our most priceless resources. Active effort must be taken to preserve it for our future, for our kids and for future generations. This cannot be a repeat of Cape Town. Bangalore must survive. Do your bit to save water today!
Stats sources:
https://www.indiawaterportal.org
https://www.livemint.com/
https://www.news18.com/
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