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Water crisis causes waves of woes in Bengaluru
Every walk of life has been impacted by the current water crisis. We take a look at how Bengalureans are dealing with the situation.
India’s Garden City might be facing one of its worst water crisis. For over two weeks, the rise in the city’s temperatures is contributing to water shortage. According to reports, Bengaluru is receiving only 1,450 million litres of water per day from the Cauvery river, in comparison to the 2,100 million litres per day that the city requires.
“In the last 30 to 40 years, we have not seen such a drought; though there was a drought earlier, we had never declared such a large number of talukas as drought-affected,” shared Deputy CM DK Shivakumar at a press conference. He added that the government has taken control of the crisis and are actively working on solutions.
While the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) have set several rules — such as a city-wide ban on washing cars, gardening, etc. with drinking water — resident, hospitality associations and education centres have also taken it upon themselves to play a part in saving water.
Hostile holdup for hospitality
The hospitality industry of the city has been severely impacted, too. PC Rao, president, Bruhat Bengaluru Hotel Association, says, “We’re bringing in water tankers for most hotels. We’ve urged all hoteliers to follow certain rules such as waiting for the customer to ask for water before pouring it and using paper plates and cups to serve. We’re hoping to reduce water wastage by at least 20% until the monsoon season begins.”
Following similar measures, Chethan Bangre of Clarks Exotica Convention Resort and Spa, tells us, “We’ve undertaken many measures to curb water shortage issues, such as exploring a revised laundry schedule to minimise water consumption, particularly for staff uniforms, regularly checking for leakage and replacing flush siphons to prevent water wastage.” They are also using disposable plates and cups made from sugarcane for banquets with.
On the other hand, Meenakshi Raju, co-founder, The Biere Club, shares, “We have been receiving water supply on and off. There was one day of no water supply due to which we had to cancel brewing but we had some water reserve to run other operations.”
Schools seek solutions
Shashi Kumar, general secretary of Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, issued a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, which read: “The BWSSB is only releasing water once a week, which is not sufficient in many schools. If the toilets meant for students are not kept clean, it will have a direct impact on their health. Private tankers are also not supplying water to schools, given that they have been taken under government’s control.”
Abheek Academy, a private institution, shut its doors for the entirety of last week due to the water crisis. “There was an internal issue with water supply and now the same has been sorted,” says a spokesperson. They have opened their doors for students from this week.
Citizens face brunt of the crisis
A Reddit post that was re-shared several times, stated that the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) of Prestige Falcon City have urged residents to use wet wipes and disposable cutlery. “No water during the daytime, when we do get it during the night its just muddy water unfit for bathing,” reads the post by user Familiar-Art-8675.
“My RWA has asked folks to fix leaks, issued regulations on car wash, like using a dry cloth every other day, and a wet cloth twice every week,” says Swateek Jena, a resident in Bellandur. Another resident in the area, Siddhant Chaturvedi tells us, “My water bill, in a normal month, is around ₹1,200 but I’ve paid more than double as we’ve had to shell out for water tankers.”
Ramesh Thiagrajan, a retired army colonel and Whitefield resident, tells us that the city faced a similar situation in 2015: “Instead of automatically pumping water in the overhead tanks, our society has shifted to one which is manually controlled. The tanks are only filled for an hour in the morning and evening. When a similar solution was previously implemented, we barely saw a dent in our day-to-day activities.”
Saina Jaypal, a public relations professional in the city, tells us, “I’ve been experiencing flashbacks from my hostel days. I’ve been using one bucket of water a day for everything.” The Richards Town resident further adds, “I had to sheepishly land at a friend’s place to do my laundry! Because I live by myself, this period has been manageable, but it must be a struggle for families, especially ones that include kids and senior citizens.”
