The Hindu : Water problem unlikely this summer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 21, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

Water problem unlikely this summer

By B.S.Ramesh

The dried up Tippagondanahalli Reservoir. - Photo: T.L.Prabhakar.

BANGALORE Feb. 20. Though large parts of the State are facing a water crisis, Bangalore is unlikely to go through such a problem during this summer. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which is in charge of water and sanitation, has made arrangements to ensure that the City receives additional water from the Cauvery Project to meet any shortfall.

The main sources of water supply for Bangalore are the Tippagondanahalli Reservoir and Cauvery Project. With the water level in the Tippagodanahalli Reservoir reaching an all-time low, pumping of water to the City from this source has almost stopped. The shortfall is, however, being made up by pumping additional water from the Cauvery Project.

Sources in the BWSSB say that there is adequate water for the City this summer. The commissioning of the IV Stage of the Cauvery Project some time ago has helped the BWSSB maintain a "comfortable" water supply position.

They say as long as there is adequate water in the Cauvery, Bangalore is unlikely to face any major shortfall in water supply.

The first attempt to provide protected water supply to Bangalore was made in 1873 with the construction of the Miller Tank in Cantonment. This was necessitated because water pumped from Halsoor (now Ulsoor), Shoolay and Pudupacherry tanks could not meet the needs of the City.

During the famine of 1875-77, tanks and lakes in and around Bangalore became dry. The influx of people from other areas added to the problem, and the Sankey Reservoir came up at a cost of Rs.5.75 lakhs. This was linked to the Miller and Dharmambudhi tanks.

When the demand for water rose, the authorities organised a public competition in which the best essay on a scheme for water supply was to be given a handsome prize. Several engineers and others came up with new and innovative schemes.

But the solution came when Chamaraja Wodeyar, the King of Mysore, and his Dewan, K.Seshadri Iyer, built the Hesarghatta Reservoir to tap the waters of the Arkavati in 1896, at a cost of Rs.20,78,641.

The Hesarghatta Reservoir dried up in 1925 and efforts were made to restore water supply to the City from the Yelemallapa Chetty Tank on Hoskote Road and the Kakol and Byatha tanks.

Realising that Bangalore needed another project to satiate its thirst, the Tippagondanahalli Reservoir at the confluence of the Arkavati and Kumudvathi was built. It was commissioned on March 15, 1933.

Since then, the Cauvery schemes have been commissioned to meet the growing water needs of the City.

Even as the City is getting water from the Cauvery, the groundwater level is depleting fast.

Besides, the catchment areas of rivers and tanks such as Tippagondanahalli are being encroached upon and this has affected the inflow of water. The BWSSB sources say that there are at least 400 tanks, big and small, between Nandi Hills (the source of Arkavati) and Shivaganga (the source of Kumudvathi) and Tippagondanahalli and that water has to flow into them before flowing into the Tippagondanahalli Reservoir.

The indiscriminate drilling of borewells, encroachments in and around the catchment areas and denudation of forest cover have seen less and less inflow of water into the water bodies and Tippagondanahalli is no exception.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

Stories in this Section

Water problem unlikely this summer

Silt: `BMP saving project cost'

Voluntary body to give awards

IFWLA meet to be held in City

Clean Energy Expo in City

PROOF meeting tomorrow

Woman gets gang to rob husband