Potable water banned in Bengaluru swimming pools amid crisis

Bengaluru water crisis escalates as BWSSB bans filling swimming pools with potable water, imposes fines. 20% cut in water supply to bulk users from March 15.

Bengaluru: The ongoing Bengaluru water crisis took a fresh turn on Wednesday, with the city’s water management body imposing fresh restrictions on the usage of drinking water for swimming pools.

People collect free drinking water from a tanker. (PTI)

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) issued an order banning the use of potable water to fill swimming pools. The potable water includes both water supplied by the BWSSB and borewells.

The board said, it will impose a fine of ₹5,000 for the first offence, and on subsequent offences, the fine would go up by ₹500 every day.

However, swimming pools used for training sports personnel for national and international sporting events have been exempted.

Apart from this, the BWSSB said, it will cut down 20% of the water supply to bulk users.

According to the board, the bulk users are those who use 20 million litres water a day. There are 38 such bulk users in the city, as per the board.

The move comes after the Karnataka Water Supply and Sewerage Board (KWSSB) on March 8 prohibited the use of drinking water for various purposes, including washing cars, gardening, construction and maintenance.

The restrictions come amid a severe water shortage in the state even before the onset of summer. More than 3,000 borewells across Bengaluru have also dried up, as low rainfall in the past monsoon season has given way to a huge deficiency.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress MLC BK Hariprasad on Wednesday claimed that there is no serious crisis in the city.

“During summers, we always have problem for two months because of the huge expansion that has taken place in the city. There is no serious crisis of water; we have borewells, tankers...They (BJP) are trying to play politics out of water, they are speaking about releasing water to Tamil Nadu but that is not our job. The Central Water Commission takes that decision...,” he said.

Karnataka is also butting heads with neighbouring Tamil Nadu on the release of Cauvery River water. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday denied charges from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that authorities are releasing Cauvery River water to Tamil Nadu even as the state capital is reeling under acute water crisis.

He dismissed the allegations as a “lie”, and said not a single drop of water will be given to Tamil Nadu.

“All that is lie. Who will let the water flow, that too in this situation? We will not give even a drop of water to Tamil Nadu without retaining water for our consumption,” added the chief minister.