Bangalore, with a population
of 9 million, requires approximately 1350 MLD[1]
(150 ltr per day per person) of water every day. BWSSB draws about 1380 MLD of
water from Cavery (the maximum allotted to Karnataka by Cavery tribunal) and
pumps over a distance of 95 KM and to a height of 450 mtr at a cost of Rs 100
crores / annum. But due to leakage and loss due to pilferage (450 MLD) and
non-domestic use (150), it only supplies 780MLD of water to Bangalore. The city
is dependent on bore wells, pumps and water tankers to meet the shortfall of
about 570! The city has been exploiting underground water three times more than
the rate of charging of ground water. As a result, the level of underground
water has been continuously going down and reached a depth of 800 ft at most
places compared to 150-200 ft fifteen years back. It is obvious that the city
is heading for a severe water crisis as indicated by several reports (Task
force formed by Govt of Karnataka[2]
and Azim Premji[3]) and may lead to
evacuation of a large population of the city due to water shortage. See section
" Deteriorating condition of
lakes in Bangalore" for a brief overview on the condition of lakes in Bangalore.
With
severe problem of water security for the city,
rejuvenation of lakes must be combined with rain water harvesting by big
houses, offices, layouts and complexes. Combining the two, the action plan for addressing
water problem of the city can be put into short term and long term. The short
term activities that can be taken immediately by the Govt are
1. Stop further encroachment of
lakes / raja-kaluves and all lakes should be fully fenced.
2. Provide for one govt agency who
is fully responsible and accountable for all aspect of lake rejuvenation. All
lakes should come under it and not divided among different govt agencies (as it
is today) It should have high powered
coordination committee with other depts. (namely BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, revenue
dept) for effective implementation of works in different areas.
3. Prepare a lake rejuvenation plan in
consultation with lake groups and lake
activists, and their current status should be made public and shared on
internet. It should have a mechanism for people to report issues as observed by
them, and that should be tracked by the one agency responsible for it.
4. Provide for sewage treatment plan
for really large lakes and not for all lakes. Otherwise, a good part of lake
bed area will go for installing and operating STP only.
5. Stop sewage inflow into lakes
completely. Every big apartment complex / layout and big offices must have
Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) for treating their internal sewage. The treated
water from STPs can be used as a source of water to nearby lakes. This can be
done by creating interest groups of local people who can take responsibility to
ensure that water being discharged into lakes meets stipulated purification
criteria.
6. Bring a strong law and set up a
mechanism for Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) in all big houses, offices, layouts
and complexes. Effective and empowered ward committees or local bodies should
be fully involved in creating awareness and feedback on implementation of RWH.
People with good working RWH should be given rebate in their water bills.
On the other hand, non implementation of
RWH should carry some penalty.
1. Separate sewage from Storm Water Network
(SWN) and raja kaluves. Once the raja kaluves and SWN are mostly free of
sewage, it can be used as a very powerful means of city wide rain water
harvesting and providing a source of quality water to lakes. It will also
require that sanctioning of new houses and layouts will mandatorily require
approved sewage connection. The pollution control board should be effectively
armed with appropriate amendments in laws for controlling discharge of sewage
into open SWN and should have adequate
man power for effective enforcement.
2. Digging of bore wells should
require prior approval and license to operate. Bore well operators should be
brought under a regulatory body for proper control of their pumping licenses,
quality checks and avoiding over exploitation of ground water. They can be used
for supplying water in deficit areas and meeting seasonal shortfalls. If
properly controlled by the regulatory body by BWSSB, they can provide a support
mechanism to BWSSB for meeting water requirement of the city.
3. The Govt should consider
providing two water pipes for every house - one for drinking and cooking, and
another for all other usage. Water charges should also be highly differentiated
so that 90-100 ltr water / day can be
provided at a very low fixed cost. But if any one crosses this limit then he
should pay the entire bill at the full rate (for the entire amount consumed ant
not only the delta)
Deteriorating condition of lakes in Bangalore
Bangalore was known for its
garden, its pleasant climate and its thousand lakes that provided all the water
requirement of the city till early seventies. Alas, it is no more like this
today and the city is going through severe water crisis with vast stretches of
city left at the mercy of water tankers! It is not that it happened suddenly
but it has been in the making over a period of time. Unfortunately, Govt
agencies have turned a blind eye to this development. In a blind rush to manage
the increasing demand for housing, the city planners allowed a free run to land
mafia by letting them encroach on raja-kaluves, lake beds and buffer zones for
lakes. The destruction of interconnectivity between lakes and disappearance of
lake buffer zones has resulted in the death of most of the city lakes. Today we
are left with 189 lakes (in BBMP area, as per justice Patil report) out of
which only 50-60 have enough water and rest are on the verge of disappearance!
The neglect and disregard for such rapid encroachment assumes criminal
dimension when we note that the founding fathers of the city were far sighted
enough to fore-see the need of this wonderful system of thousands of
interconnected tanks, as the city was not on the bank of any river.
If Govt agencies are so
blinded or careless for the city then local teams consisting of concerned
citizen have come forward to protect lakes in their locality and raise
objections and file complaint when they see violations. It is a long battle but
has to be fought for our own sake as people are the ultimate stakeholder of the
city. Realizing this, most lake activists, NGOs and social organizations have
come under one platform called "One Bengaluru for Lakes" (OBL). It
has been working to bring focus on key problems for lake rejuvenation, bring
awareness and get people's support for the key demands, providing a common
platform for learning, sharing of problems / solutions. The key demands, as
agreed by all members of OBL, are available at https://www.facebook.com/SaveBengaluruLakes.
Role of OBL
One
Bengaluru for Lakes must work on both the front of creating public awareness
and making it an important campaign issue. On the one hand, we must make
revival of lakes as a burning issue that should be in the agenda of all
political parties. It must become an important campaign issue not only in the
upcoming BBMP election but in other future election also. The leaders of all
political parties must be made aware of the issues and asked to take a stand
for lake revival. Most of the initiatives of lake activists in the past have
failed because of the lack of will on the part of Govt agencies. Lake activists
can only highlight the problem, raise complaint and try to work with Govt
agencies. Because, ultimately, the work for lake rejuvenation has to be done by
Govt agencies and it can happen only if they understand the problem and have
the will to do it. On the other hand, we also must work on educating public and
make them understand the benefit of lakes. People will support and participate
in rejuvenation of lake in their area when they see lakes as a place for
recreation, jogging, cultural activities etc, in addition to providing water
security to the city. We must also engage these people in support of the key
demands that most of lake activists have agreed to. Multiple groups of people,
including school children, writing to Govt agencies will make them listen to
what people want. OBL can play this role in giving voice to the concern of the
people of Bangalore for the sorry state of lakes in the city.
