Date:16/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/16/stories/2006031622140300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Water supply may be hit in many areas today

Special Correspondent

BWSSB suspends pumping of Cauvery water at Torekondanahalli

Bangalore: Most of the areas in the city getting Cauvery water can expect normal supply only by late Friday.

They went without usual supply on Wednesday and the situation will continue on Thursday, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSS) said.

The reason for disruption in water being pumped from Cauvery was maintenance work taken up by Karnataka Power Transmission Company Ltd. at its 220 kV Torekondanahalli sub-station on Wednesday.

This is to facilitate commissioning of the new 220 kV power station at Kollegal, KPTCL said.

Supply from all four stages of the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme will be affected on two days.

Even after power supply is restored to the pumping stations, it may take two to three hours for the pumps to be switched on in phases to avoid any breakdown.

There are pumping stations at T.K. Halli, Harohalli and Tataguni that have to be switched on in phases.

The city gets close to 850 million litres of water a day (MLD) from the Cauvery, which has become the main source now.

Almost the entire Cantonment area and the eastern suburbs went without normal water supply on Wednesday.

Those most affected were slum dwellers and other depending on public taps for their water needs.

For them BWSSB arranged tanker lorries to go around but there were some complaints it was inadequate and that people were unaware when the lorries may visit a specific locality.

Those living in better-off areas and in apartments had things easy.

In many cases they have large sumps and overhead tanks that are filled.

Many apartments rely on borewell to augment the supply from BWSSB so that they can cope for some days at least.

The BWSSB engineers used the shutdown period to inspect water pipelines in the areas affected by the outbreak of gastro-enteritis, especially with some cases in hospitals testing positive for cholera.

Serious attempts are being made to stop leakages and possible contamination of water, which goes through a cleaning and filtering process before entering the pipelines.