DK Shivakumar on Bengaluru water crisis

“So to control the situation, we arranged for water tankers to replenish water.”

Bangalore:

Amid severe water shortage in Bengaluru, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday said the state has never experienced such a severe drought in the past three to four decades and the next two months are “very important”.

The government is making every effort to control the crisis and provide water to citizens, he said, adding that measures have been taken to control the water “mafia” in the city.

Speaking to reporters here, Shivakumar said: “We have never seen such a drought situation in the past 30-40 years; although droughts have happened before, we have never declared such a large number of taluk trees. Affected by drought.”

Shivakumar, who is in charge of development in Bengaluru, said that wherever the city needs to provide Cauvery water, work is being done, but of the more than 13,900 borewells in Bengaluru, about 6,900 have been abandoned.

“So, to control the situation, we have arranged water supply through tankers. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) are making all efforts in this regard,” he added.

Karnataka has declared drought in 223 of the 240 taluks, with 196 taluks classified as severe drought.

Shivakumar claimed that the opposition (BJP-JD(S) combine) was trying to get into politics on the issue and said the government had made efforts to control the water “mafia” and provide water by taking water from private wells and at rates It is also determined based on the distance traveled by the waterwheel.

“A separate online system has been introduced for this and officials have been appointed to monitor this,” he added.

Shivakumar, who is also the water resources minister, said the next two months were “very important” and the first priority was to ensure that water was not wasted.

“(With implementation of) Cauvery phase-5 (project) – we will make every effort to provide Cauvery water to 110 villages (around Bengaluru) as early as last week in May,” he said.

Shivakumar further said that in order to control the water ‘mafia’, more than 1,500 private water tankers have been registered so far and the registration period for others has been extended till March 15. It will be monitored by the police, Regional Transport Office (RTO), BBMP and BWSSB and there will be a plate with the registration number on the tanker.

“It is happening to operate illegally and charge exorbitant charges of Rs 5,000 or 6,000 (per tank of water). To control, the price has been fixed based on the distance traveled,” he pointed out.

There are irrigation wells in Bengaluru, Ramanagara, Magadi, Doddabarapura, Hoskote and surrounding areas, he said, adding, “We have inventoried these wells so that they can be Get water from there in case of emergency.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)