Representative image for water crisis
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: With the city facing a severe water crisis months before the onset of the summer, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) – responsible for supplying Cauvery water to citizens – does not have a full-time chairman.
Even though the government posted Ram Prasath Manohar at the helm, the 2010-batch IAS officer has also been given the additional responsibility of the tourism department.
Retired engineers said the BWSSB was not a small organisation that a part-time chairman could handle.
They also recalled how senior IAS officers, including then additional chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar and principal secretary-level IAS officers such as A Ravindra and Tushar Girinath, headed the water board only because the government of the day knew the importance of the BWSSB.
"There is a shortage of water in the Cauvery basin while 60% of the borewells in the 110 villages have gone dry. The surface water may last for a few days but it is not enough. The groundwater situation is highly alarming. The problem is serious but the BWSSB does not have a full-time chairman. If alternative measures are not taken, the situation will go out of control,” a retired BWSSB engineer said on the condition anonymity.
They also felt that the discussion about the water crisis should not be restricted to the summer season. “Bengaluru is a key economic growth of the country but the government is not seriously thinking about addressing the water shortage,” another engineer said, requesting anonymity.