Depleting reservoirs, drying borewells reveal looming water crises in Bengaluru

Bengaluru would likely be impacted if the state does not receive sufficient rainfall in the next two months, experts say.

With water levels plunging in reservoirs, the threat of a water crisis looms over Bengaluru. Although senior BWSSB officials said it was too early to determine how badly the city would be hit by the shortage, well-placed sources warned Bengaluru would likely be impacted if the state does not receive sufficient rainfall in the next two months.

With scanty rains depleting the groundwater and drying up borewells, the city’s dependence on the Krishnaraja Sagara, Harangi, Hemavathi or Kabini reservoirs would only be heavy.

As of September 25, only 20.4 TMC of water was available at KRS. The water levels in Harangi, Hemavathi and Kabini stood at 7.6 TMC, 17.9 TMC, and 14.2 TMC, respectively. Karnataka is yet to release 5,000 cusecs of water a day to Tamil Nadu over the next eight days.

"This would mean that we will have to release nearly 0.4 TMC water every day or close to 3 TMC in the next eight days. We will also have to consider the dead storage at these reservoirs to understand the actual availability of water,” a senior BWSSB official said.

A rough estimate revealed that Karnataka will be left with only 57 TMC out of the 60.1 TMC available on Monday across the four reservoirs after it releases the stipulated quantity of water to Tamil Nadu.

"In the worst-case scenario, we will be left with 47 TMC of water in these four reservoirs until the next monsoon," the official said.

"Bengaluru alone requires 1.6 TMC of water per month without considering the additional water we had to receive from January to serve the 110 villages on the city's periphery. Even if we are to manage until April, we will need at least 9.6 TMC reserved for the city,” the official explained.

“KRS serves Mandya, Mysuru, and many other districts. Kabini is the lifeline for Chamarajanagar, T Narasipura and the surrounding areas. Harangi and Hemavathi also serve Hassan, Tumakuru, and a few other districts. When such is the situation, we are not sure if Bengaluru may get a 20% share,” believed another BWSSB official.

The situation could either get better or worse depending on how things would pan out in the next two months. “If we are to think positively, rain might pick up and we may not have such a big crisis. Also, on the other hand, if we are to release more water to TN, the situation might turn worse,” the official said. Expecting that the city may soon face a water crisis, the BWSSB recently wrote to the Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Limited, requesting it to reserve at least 1.6 TMC of water every month for supply to Bengaluru. 

Ensure city gets its water share, BJP leaders tell BWSSB  

A delegation of BJP leaders submitted a memorandum to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), asking it to write immediately to the water resources minister to ensure adequate water is available for people in the Cauvery basin and in Bengaluru till the next monsoon.

With the monsoon failing and water crises appearing likely in the city, the delegation also urged the BWSSB to approach the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), demanding approval for the Mekedatu project.