Summer has brought with it an acute water crisis in Bengaluru, which has led to a 24-hour water supply cut that began on Tuesday.
The city water board was forced to give other water sources, like the Cauvery basin, priority in order to meet the city’s drinking water needs due to low water levels in nearby reservoirs and declining groundwater levels.
Men and women lined up in long lines on Monday to get water from tankers using empty buckets. Residents who rely on groundwater claim that in order to meet their daily water needs, they had to pay tankers twice as much as usual.
Horamavu resident Shimna stated that their only source of water these days is water tankers because they haven’t been able to use the groundwater for a month.
“The tankers charge ₹ 6,000. If we have to pay this price every day, it will become very difficult for us. Our savings are affected as we are paying both for drinking water and for water for other daily needs. We will be happy if the authorities help us,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the government is exploring the possibility of digging more borewells to solve the issue.
“We have allotted ₹ 8 crore to solve the water issue. Some MLAs said borewells have been dug up to 1,500 feet. We are exploring the possibility of digging 500 meters deeper besides installing more borewells,” said Mr Shivakumar.
BJP MLA Byrathi Basavaraj, who represents the KR Puram constituency, slammed the government for solving the water crisis despite multiple representations.
“There’s water scarcity everywhere. What is the government doing? I have written so many letters. All guarantees are being given but there is no money for this,” he added.
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