To manage the water crisis in Bengaluru, the civic authorities have decided to fill the drying lakes with 1,300 million litres per day of treated water to replenish groundwater sources in the city.
In Bengaluru about 50 per cent of the borewells have dried up.
The civic body Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) will also install filter borewells and construct water plants using an innovative technology near the restored lake beds to supply water after testing, BWSSB officials said.
As part of the plan, lakes in Bellandur, Varthur, Nayandahalli, Herohalli, Attur and Jakkur will be refilled initially.
The initiative has been taken in association with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
BWSSB chairman Ram Prasath Manohar said that this is expected to add about 20–30 MLD of water into the system.
The irrigation department is supplying water in Devanahalli, where the Kempegowda International Airport is located, by treating the water from the Kote lake with a similar initiative.
Bengaluru needs 2,100 MLD of potable water, out of which 1,450 MLD comes from Cauvery river. The remaining 650 MLD water requirement comes from borewells.
The city needs about 8,000 million cubic feet (TMC) water from March to May while there is only 34 TMC water in reservoirs.
Meanwhile, BWSSB has also extended the registration deadlines for water tanker owners till March 15 aimed at encouraging more water suppliers. So far, 1,530 tankers have registered.
Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, who is also in-charge for Bengaluru development, said that the government has taken over private water tankers to tackle the water mafia.
“About 50 per cent of the borewells in the city have dried up. We have decided to take control of thousands of private water tankers (by registering) to supply water from sources outside the city. We have left the pricing to officials as factors like distance travelled determines costs. Unused milk tankers will be used to ferry water,” Shivakumar said.
