Stories from Bangalore

1. area : Marathahalli, East bangalore:

- independent house.
- started receiving cauvery water only in 2013.
- officials claimed the area wasn't developed enough to lay pipelines.
- used to use borewell water which is hard water and needs to be filtered before use for cooking, washing etc.
- cauvery is more expensive but doesn't need to be filtered, no extra equipment.


2. area : Marathahalli, East bangalore:

- apartment building.
- receives cauvery water once in 2 days.
- 3 underground sumps hold 150,000l each. for 800 flats this lasts 2 days only.
- building uses borewell water too if necessary, or water tankers are bought.
- during summer they get water only once every 4 days and cost of Cauvery water also increases.
- At bangalore's elevation (3000ft above sea level) the cost of pumping is also high. Electricity rates go up.
- BWSSB supplied water has illegal tapping and leakages, water gets wasted.
- earlier this month a pipeline burst at church street and water was overflowing onto the roads and into drains. TOI and others reported to the BWSSB and published an article in the paper but the issue was resolved only after a day and a half.

- THE WATER TANKER MAFIA : politicians dig up their own private borewells and have their own set of tankers. they pay the guy in charge of releasing cauvery water (lineman) to release only a part of it so that residents will be forced to buy their tanker water. the lineman himself charges residents and buildings and increases his pay as and when he wishes. (apart from the salary he receives from the government) Politicians sometimes supply tanker water for free in order to ensure the people's votes.

- THE PROBLEM : While dividing the states if the British had made the rivers national property, such bilateral issues would not have risen.Now individual states have claim over the water and a change cannot be brought about immediately. Rivers in India aren't distributed equally. States must find a mutually beneficial solution and abide by the agreement. (The Hover dam was constructed so the water from the colorado river could be extended to the dry areas of southern california). the lakes around bangalore used to increase the water table. now with unplanned urbanisation and encroachment the water table is depleting so borewells are of no use. Also apparently karnataka secretly releases water when the dams are full. this causes flooding in areas.


3. Mr. Keshava:

- tamil nadu is politically stronger than karnataka. they support the ruling party and turn the issue into an emotional one. Devegowda, the CM of karnataka in 1996 was the prime minister for 8 months or so. Not many were aware of this happening. under his command he is said to have released excess water to tamil nadu, much to the shock of karnataka.
- there are a lot of problems with the storage of water. silt collects in the sumps which is not cleared out. when the tank is filled the approximated amount of water is not present because of the silt.
- borewells are now being dug upto 300ft under the ground due to lack of water.
- there is a lack of awareness among people about the dispute.
- "don't connect natural resources to emotional issues."