Bengaluru: Residents of at least four apartment complexes on Hall Road in Richards Town have stopped using Cauvery water for nearly three weeks after foul-smelling and discoloured water sparked fears of sewage contamination, forcing families to depend on borewell water for daily use and purchase drinking water from private suppliers.
The issue first came to light after an elderly resident in the locality reportedly fell ill. Around the same time, several households began noticing a strong odour and brownish colour in the supplied water, prompting apartment associations to stop pumping Cauvery water into storage tanks and carry out emergency cleaning of their sumps and overhead tanks.
Residents spend thousands on cleaning
Residents said they had relied on Cauvery water for more than two decades without any major issues until the contamination surfaced.
Several apartment associations reportedly spent between ₹12,000 and ₹13,000 each to clean their water tanks. Since then, they have been using borewell water for non-drinking purposes while buying water for cooking and drinking.
Many expressed concern about the health risks, particularly for senior citizens and children living in the affected apartments.
BWSSB traces source of contamination
After repeated complaints from nearly 10 apartment associations, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) traced the contamination to a damaged house service connection near Davis Road.
According to officials, sewage entered the Cauvery water pipeline through the damaged connection, contaminating the water supplied to nearby residential complexes.
BWSSB deployed robotic inspection technology to examine nearly 200 metres of the underground pipeline network before identifying the fault.
Officials are now replacing the damaged cast-iron connection with a 100 mm ductile iron (DI) pipeline.
Residents await water quality report
The BWSSB has said the repair work, flushing of pipelines and water quality testing are expected to take about a week before normal supply resumes.
However, residents remain cautious and have demanded that the utility publicly share laboratory test results before asking consumers to use the supplied water again.
They said confidence in the water supply can only be restored after independent testing confirms that the contamination has been completely eliminated.
The incident has once again highlighted the need for regular maintenance of Bengaluru’s ageing water infrastructure to ensure safe and uninterrupted drinking water for residents.