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Rs 36,146 cr needed to fix BangaloreThis is the amount of money the state government needs in the next five years to fix Bangalore. This according to the memorandum submitted by the state government to the 13th Finance commission.
In the memorandum, the government has said that total requirement to fill the service gaps in Bangalore’s core infrastructure services like water supply, sewerage, roads, among other things, over the next five years is Rs 36,146 crore at the current prices. The numbers are based on a report submitted by the Credit Rating Information Services of India (CRISIL) to the state government. According to the report, Rs 20,020 crore is required by the BBMP, Rs 11,030 crore by BWSSB while the BDA will require Rs 5,096 crore.
Water for all
The water supply in the BBMP area is about 143 litre per capita per day (lpcpd) against the norm of 180 lpcpd and it is not uniform.
Some parts get as less as 17 lpcpd. Investment of Rs 8,089 cr is needed, including water augmentation by 476 Million Litres per day (MLD), construction of a 601 MLD capacity treatment plant, extension of distribution network and about 416 MLD storage reservoirs.
Drain out the storm water
Only 50 per cent of the BBMP area is presently covered by storm water drains. By 2012, the BBMP needs to construct 3,184 km of new drains and upgrade 2,734 km of existing drains, which will call for an investment of about Rs 1,478 crore.
Dump sewage
In addition to refurbishment the existing network, there is a need to develop an additional sewage treatment capacity of 446 MLD and a new sewer network of about 4,862 km requiring about Rs 2,941 crore by 2011-12.
To light up our streets
BBMP needs to add about 1,07,347 new lights to achieve optimum gap between lamp-posts and upgrade 23,226 tube lights to sodium vapour lamps by 2012. These will add up to about Rs 145 crore of investment.
All roads lead here
The total road network in the BBMP is estimated to be about 7,750 kmlong.
The BBMP will require 2,372 km of additional roads by 2012. About Rs 1,628 crore is required for new roads, to upgrade about 267 km of tar roads to concrete, and to convert about 1,417 km and 1,622 km kacha roads to tar roads. Another Rs 5,096 crore of investment is required by the BDA to construct the Peripheral Ring Road.
Solid Waste
Bangalore presently generates about 3,500 Metric Tonnes of solid waste per day and by 2012 this would increase to about 4,457 MT per day. The BBMP will need a disposal site of about 443 acres. For this and to bridge the gap in waste carrying capacity of BBMP as well as container bins the BBMP needs to invest about Rs 677 cr.
Urban poor and slums
About a million people live in 573 slums in the BBMP area.
According to the BBMP of the 3,08,183 existing slum households, about 58,000 will be rehabilitated.
The construction of new houses will require about Rs 2,629 crore.
Beautifying B’lore and more
Apart from these core services, other infrastructure like rainwater harvesting, beautification of gardens, lake development, fire system, urban renewal and governance development would require an investment of Rs, 2,948 cr.
More JNNURM funds for metro-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of IndiaBangalore : Bangalore, which desperately needs to rejuvenate and build additional urban infrastructure
, will get a helping hand from
the Centre towards that end under Jawaharlal National Urban Renewal Mission. For the year 2009-10, an allocation of Rs 11,842 crore for this programme has been made.
Of the 53 projects approved for Bangalore and Mysore under the scheme, the city has sent 20 projects to the GOI for funding this year. The authorities had drawn up 53 projects pertaining to urban infrastructure, governance and services to the urban poor and water supply at a cost of Rs 4,350 crore. Bangalore and Mysore cities are among the 63 cities all over the country chosen for the project.
Under JNNURM, 386 projects amounting to Rs 39,000 crore have been sanctioned as of December 31, 2008. The KUIDFC had sent a set of projects -- integrated waste water management
and use of treated water, construction of grade separators on ring road for seamless traffic, remodelling of drains, upgradation of transport facilities, development of model slums, a host of traffic and transport management centres, grade separators, water supply and road widening projects -- for funding
Rainwater harvesting: Oldest method of storing rainwaterRAINWATER HARVESTING in rural Karnataka was initiated by the Karnataka state for Science and Technology, which is one of the largest rainwater harvesting projects in the world. One of the reasons for an initiative like this is the shortage of drinking water, which is such that Karnataka sometimes has opted for alternatives like, cloud seeding to bring rain artificially.
The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board (BWSSB) currently supplies 900 million litres of water to the city per day where as the demand for water is of 1.3 billion litres. The Cauvery River is the main source of water for the Bangalore city, which is imported by the BWSSB.
Rainwater harvesting technology drew closer in meeting the solution of acute water shortage in Bangalore. The rainwater club started in the year 1995, which incorporated of architects and engineers who were inclined on integrating rainwater harvesters into buildings.
In the next few months every building in Bangalore would be equipped with rainwater harvesters as per the provisions of the Karnataka Ground Water Regulation and Control of Development and Management Bill 2007. Also the BWSSB has made it mandatory for applicants of water connections to install rainwater harvesters.
Rainwater harvesting is used for storing of water for domestic, livestock and irrigation, which also lessens urban flooding and improves the quality of groundwater increasing the groundwater table through artificial recharge, which is a process where the ground water reservoir is augmented by refilling.
There are two main techniques of rainwater harvestings that include; storage of rainwater on surface for future use and recharge to ground water. Storing water on surface is one of the traditional techniques and structured by tanks, ponds and check dams. Recharge to ground water is a new technique, which composes of: pits, trenches, dug wells, hand pumps, recharge wells, and recharge shafts, lateral shafts with bore wells and spreading techniques.
Awareness of rainwater harvesting is much talked about rather than being implemented comment most of the architects in Bangalore.
"The urban population has lost their connection to their roots," says Jeeth Iype, architect, Good Earth Homes.
He also added that people construct buildings and houses and cover most of the ground leaving no space for rainwater to settle down.
Jeeth also stated that media should play its role in creating awareness of how important is setting up rainwater harvesters while constructing houses and buildings.
’Good Earth Enclave’ that is situated at Uttarahalli near Kengeri is the best example of environment friendly homes. Jeeth Iype is one of the residents here, who says that there is no need for rainwater harvesters since this colony has lot of space for absorbing rainwater. The colony also has a well, a pond and array of plants and trees surrounding the homes that are built of bricks and not cement blocks.
The residents of Beedi Colony have been storing rainwater since two years. Nazima, a resident says that all the houses use the rainwater for washing utensils, clothes and bathing.
Beedi workers housing scheme includes rainwater-harvesting technology, which is funded by Indo Norwegian environment programme an implemented by Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology. The process includes filtration of rainwater from the building roof and stored in a surface tank of 7,500 litres at each site. The annual potential of the rainwater harvesting here is 4,38,000 litres of water.
"Spend a little today for a better tomorrow," says Vimal Jain, architect, Paradigm.
He also said that it is the responsibility of an architect to make the clients understand how important utilising rainwater for at least domestic use is.
Vimal also stated, "Government should reinforce the law that exists, there are many laws as such but how many are implemented, that is why there should be ’shrewd penalties’ charged."
When should one store rainwater and when one should use it for recharge?
This depends on the rainfall pattern and the region. In Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat where rainfall occurs during three to four months, here groundwater recharge is usually practised, where as in Kerala, Bangalore and Tamil Nadu where rain falls throughout the year one can depend on storing rainwater.
Why is rainwater harvesting important?
Surface water is inadequate to meet the demand for water another reason is rapid urbanisation.
Other Articles by Sonali Desai
This can be seen in Bangalore, where most of the rural areas do store rainwater but the urban population is so much involved in buildings that can attract the customers and houses, unlike some of the colonies that are environment friendly fails to realise that environment should not be taken lightly.
Till about thirty years back the areas around homes and offices used to be unpaved and the rainfall would percolate into the soil, but due to the proliferation of flats and complexes the percolation of water has suddenly come to a stop. Most of the architects in Bangalore blame the government for not implementing the law and also there is less awareness among the people of how important is rainwater harvesting.
Added to that comes another misconception that rainwater harvesting is a new technique, which is absolutely false.
In India, it was in 4500 BC when the water was harvested for earthworks in the Thar Desert and Rajasthan, whereas in the Palestine and Greece it existed 4000 years ago.
BWSSB repeals blanket penalty on ‘greedy’ consumersThe Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) seems to have understood that its better to remove the weeds than resort
to one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to dealing with errant consumers.
It may be recalled that taking cognisance of the fact that water pilferage is a source of major revenue drain on BWSSB, a Revenue Enforcement Cell has been set up to stanch the swelling losses.
It is to be noted that a section of those taking down the meter readings of the BWSSB have always been under the eye of storm owing to them being hand-in-glove with the consumer in issuing a bill at much below the actual or recorded level. That means, the consumer would end up paying much lesser amount and the meter reader gets a small bribe in return.
To exacerbate an already grave situation, these meter readers are alleged of having tipped off the consumers of surprise inspections by their higher ups. The consumers would be advised to damage the water meter so that the visiting officers would not know their ploy. An unwitting BWSSB ends up repairing or replacing the damaged meters at its own cost and only collects the cost of the meter in cases where theft was reported.
Some other 'innovative' consumers used to regulate the meter and manipulate its running and thereby they too paid a lesser sum.
Driven to the wall BWSSB ended up imposing a penalty of Rs 5,000 on the consumers if the meter was found to be tampered with or stolen, which came into effect from January 1.
This fuelled a public outrage and questions were raised over BWSSB's rationale in imposing heavy fines on all the consumers whenever the meter was stolen or repaired for the mistakes committed by a few greedy consumers.
The exasperated consumers refused to pay the fines.
BWSSB chairman P B Ramamurthy has now directed the officials to roll back the penalty and rework the scheme. BWSSB Chief Engineer Venkatraju explained the reworked scheme: "We will continue to impose Rs 5,000 fine wherever the meters are found tampered with or damaged. But in cases where the meter is stolen and police complaint to the effect is registered we will bring it down; Rs 860 will be collected as meter cost and Rs 140 as fine."
Arkavathy: Bangalore’s river of dreamsThe demand for the constitution of a River Arkavathy Rejuvenation Board or Authority to give an official push to the long struggle to revive and conserve this vital water source for Bangalore and its surroundings ran prominently at a roundtable of elected representatives, government agencies and NGOs called in Bangalore on Friday.
The demand for a budgetary allocation of Rs 100 core for the programme was also made on the occasion. The large part of this sum must go for a comprehensive survey of the river’s course, the depletion of catchment area, encroachments and the loss of the feeder lines to the large and small water tanks fed by the river, it was noted.
The meeting attended by Bangalore City in-charge minister R Ashok among others took note of the fact that industrial units and activities like sand mining continue to thrive along the river-bed not withstanding a government notification (of 2003) banning such activities within a 3-km radius of Arkavati’s catchment area.
The legislators faulted Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) in particular for its failure to control the industrial units from thriving in the restricted area.
ILLS ON ITS COURSE:
NGO participants led by SVARAJ (Society for Voluntary Action Revitalisation and Justice) called for immediate measures to clear encroachments on rajakaluves that feed the nearly 1,200 large and small water tanks along the river’s course. With much of these tanks now running dry, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has commissioned a comprehensive survey by the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre to identify the available water sources, BWSSB officials said.
The 190-km course of the river runs from Nandi Hills in Doddaballapur to Sangam in Kanakapura and traverses Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Chikballapur and Ramanagaram districts. If it is effluents from textile processing units in Doddaballapur, it is effluents from sericulture-oriented units in Ramanagaram, NGO representatives said and noted that granite mining, sand mining and sand filtering and real estate encroachments are the others that together spell the bane of River Arkavati.
CASE IMPERFECT:
While most legislators from Bangalore area cutting across party affiliations attended the half-day meeting, agencies like the BBMP and KPTCL and the Minor Irrigation Department failed to send any representatives. The case for the constitution of a board or authority would be placed before the chief minister, the legislators said and also agreed to hold monthly meetings on the river rejuvenation programme.
In the meanwhile, NGO representatives mused over their role should the government heed the demand for constitution of a board or authority for rejuvenation of River Arkavathy.
“It is a difficult question. Perhaps the Board can take care of the technical aspects and we (NGOs) can continue with our work among the river-bed communities,” said a member of Svaraj.
BWSSB gears up to quench summer thirst in Sanjay nagarResidents of Sanjaynagar need not worry about water supply this summer, according to BWSSB minister Katta Subramanya Naidu. Speaking at a Janaspandana programme at Sanjaynagar on Friday, Naidu promised that all arrangements were being made to prevent any water shortage during summer. “I have directed the BWSSB authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure that the city does not suffer from water shortage.
We are drawing a feeder main pipeline from Malleshwaram to Sanjaynagar at a cost of Rs seven crore. Also, we have already dug 400 borewells and will dig another 900 by March 31,” he said.
The Minister inaugurated development works worth Rs 37 crore in Sanjaynagar.
‘Set things right at VictoriaAfter the shocking revelation before the Lok Adalat that both Victoria and Bowring Hospitals were paying Rrs.75 lakh as their monthly water bills to Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board (BWSSB), the urban development department has directed BWSSB to “straighten” the things immediately.
In a letter dated January 27, the principal secretary to the department Jyothiramalingam, directed BWSSB chairman P B Ramamurthy to replace the rusted water pipes and the internal lines in both the hospitals, to prevent water pilferage, within a fortnight.
the principal secretary has suggested to Ramamurthy that the engineers of BWSSB and the medical superintendents of both hospitals should visit the hospitals and take necessary steps to check the pilferage and prevent unauthorised drawing of water from the water pipes of the hospitals.
“BWSSB and the hospital authorities must conduct a joint survey and remove the old rusted water pipes. By doing this, BWSSB can ensure that water is used only for the purposes of the hospital,” the principal secretary stated.
The superintendent of Victoria Hospital had submitted before the Lok Adalat that water is being drawn illegally by the residents and also the commercial establishments in the vicinity of the hospital. hospital authorities had pleaded before the Lok Adalat that BWSSB should be asked to replace the water pipes.
But sources in BWSSB said that it was not an easy task to change the water pipelines within a short time, because it required laying separate water delivery pipes in the Victoria Hospital premises.
On January 20, the High Court Lok Adalat had directed BWSSB to charge domestic rates for water to the government hospitals. The matter will again come up for hearing on February 19, 2009.
Rain harvesting must for Bangalore buildings-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of IndiaFinally, the government seems to have understood how grave the water problem would be in the coming
days.
Five years after the rule was legislated, the state cabinet on Tuesday made it mandatory for all new constructions covering 1,200 sqft (30 by 40 ft site) and beyond to install rainwater harvesting systems in Bangalore.
However, old buildings are not forgotten. They will be given some time to go in for installations.
"The new regulation will be applicable with immediate effect for all new constructions but old buildings will be given some time,'' rural development and panchayat raj minister Shobha Karandlaje told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
Shobha said the groundwater table in Bangalore has dipped to dangerously low levels and taking cognizance of it, the government will soon frame guidelines for the installation of rainwater systems. This, after bringing amendments to 72 (A) clause of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Act, 1964.
Apart from residential houses, all government buildings, institutions, local bodies, cooperative bodies and government-aided bodies will be directed to compulsorily make provisions for collection and conservation of rainwater in their premises.
Asked whether incentives will be offered to those who comply with the new regulation, the minister said a decision on this will be taken soon.
The government had issued a GO in 2004 making rainwater harvesting systems mandatory in new constructions, but the rule was hardly followed. However, last year, the BWSSB took some initiatives and issued orders that no new constructions would be issued water and sanitary connections without rainwater harvesting systems.
The owner will have to give an undertaking to the BWSSB stating that the "rainwater harvesting system has been completed in all respects and the system will be maintained properly.'' The undertaking will be endorsed by the junior engineer/assistant engineer after inspecting the spot to verify whether the rainwater harvesting systems has been installed as per the drawings submitted.
To popularize the concept, even the BBMP had earlier announced some concession in property tax for those rainwater harvesting compliance. But it didn't work.
Consumer friendly modules
* Roof-top rain water harvesting
* Open area water collection
* Pits and percolation tanks
Cost
* Rs 3,000 to Rs 30,000 depending on building size
25,000 slum-dwellers to get ownership rights
Mangalorean.Com- Serving Mangaloreans Around The World!Keeping an eye on the ensuing Parliamentary elections, Karnataka BJP Government has decided to distribute ownership rights to 25,000 poor slum-dwellers of the Bangalore City in the next 30 days.
Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Minister for Transport R. Ashok said the there will not be any fresh survey to identify the beneficiaries as the process had been done several times in the past by the previous government.
Mr Ashok, who is in-charge minister for Bangalore, said ownership rights or registration of the dwelling plots will be done in one month.
Earlier, Mr Ashok held a review meeting with officials of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore Development Authority, Karnataka Slum Improvement Board, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bangalore Energy Supply Company and the urban development department. Minister for information and excise minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, was also present.
They said 25,000 out of the estimated 1 lakh slum-dwellers in the city would be given ownership rights.
The Bangalore Development Authority had proposed to impose a levy of Rs 1000 per sq. yard for the dwelling plots, Mr Ashok said the government has decided to charge uniform rate Rs 100 for every beneficiary as the registration fee.
He criticized former minister H D Deve Gowda, who had held a Daridra Narayana rally in the city during the Dharam Singh-led Congress-JD(S) coalition rule and said the BJP will hold a Nemmadi Narayana (happy poor) rally when Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa distributing ownership rights.
Stating that BBMP had 15,000 pending applicants, BDA had 6,000, Slum Board and urban development department had 2,000 each applications from the poor dwelling in the government properties since the last two to three decades, which had been classified as slums, the minister said the beneficiaries who had already been identified and granted identity cards will be eligible for the ownership right.
Spare us the s***, at least in waterYou might want to sit down while reading this. And don’t reach out for that glass of water yet. The bad news is, Bangalore, the glorious IT city, galloping towards pinnacles of development, provides some of its citizens drinking water contaminated with faecal matter.
Express learnt of this gross fact when it got samples of water supplied by the BWSSB tested at the Public Health Institute Laboratory, Bangalore. Even ‘respectable’ areas like The National Games Village in Koramangala with 2,534 housing units, home to approximately 12,500 people are not spared of this. The mostly middle-class residents of this area have no choice but to consume water contaminated with faecal discharge.
Shocking study Samples were collected from different parts of the city as per laboratory requirements in sterilised bottles and sent to the laboratory within four hours of collection.
According to Bacteriological analysis report of the laboratory, the water sample collected from NGV could very well be contaminated with faecal discharge.
The approximate number of bacteria per 100 ml of water collected from NGV was found to be 1,800. Differential Coliform, a sort of bacteria, also found in the faeces of humans and other warm-blooded animals, was also found in the NGV water.
A cross-connection? PHI officials were of the opinion that there could be a leakage or a cross-connection in the pipelines, leading to the percolation of sewage into the drinking water pipelines.
Presence of bacteria was also detected in the water sample collected from Jeevan Bimanagar, but there was no faecal contamination in it.
With effective chlorination, the water at Jeevan Bimanagar can be used for drinking purposes. But the NGV water is not potable before the issue of faecal contamination is addressed, lab officials said.
Govt hospitals spend king’s ransom on waterVictoria Hospital with a bed-strength of 550 is spending a mind-boggling amount Rs 38 lakh every month towards its water bill. Similarly the Bowring Hospital with a bed strength of 800 is paying Rs 31 lakh towards water charges every month to Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).
Compare these figures with the amounts spent on medicine by these hospitals — while the Victoria Hospital spends Rs 35 lakh per month, the monthly medicine bill for Bowring Hospital is about Rs 30 lakh.
On the contrary, it is learnt that Apollo Hospital, which has a bed strength of 250, is paying Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per month.
These shocking statistics came to light on Tuesday during the hearing of a petition on setting up of Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) on government and private hospital premises by the Lok Adalat.
Lok Adalat Chairman K L Manjunath was astonished on learning from the superintendents of the two government hospitals about the whopping amounts they spend on water. He questioned an officer of the BWSSB, “How can such big amounts be collected from the hospitals as water bill? How much water is consumed by patients in the hospitals?” The BWSSB officer had no satisfactory answers.
An officer of Victoria hospital replied that the BWSSB charged them a commercial slab as their bed strength is 550. “On an average a patient consumes around 250 litres of water per day. The bill also includes the water consumed by the staff in the quarters,” the officer said.
Disapproving the statistics given by the officer, the Chairman directed the BWSSB to lay new water pipes to both hospitals and install separate meters for the hospitals and staff quarters. The Chairman also directed the BWSSB to keep a vigil on whether the residents of nearby areas are illegally drawing water from these hospitals. Interestingly, officers of Victoria hospital said that the hospital was spending Rs 30 lakh on medicine expenses per month for its patients.
“If the water bill is reduced, we can divert the money to poor patients,” they added.
Justice Manjunath also suggested that the BWSSB can reduce its water bills to government hospitals.
The Chairman directed the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to close down private hospitals in the city which have failed to set up biomedical waste treatment plants on their premises.
The Chairman pulled up an officer of KSPCB for not taking action against the private hospitals which have not set up ETPs on their premises.
The officer submitted that the Chinmaya Hospital, Krishnadevaraya Hospital in Hunasemaranahalli, B R Ambedkar Hospital, Bhagavan Mahaveer Jain Hospital, Church of South India Hospital, KIMS Hospital and HAL Hospital have not set up the ETPs.
“Nine private hospitals in the city have not set up the treatment plants.
four months time has been granted to them to set up the same,” said the officer.
The government hospitals took an undertaking before the Lok Adalat that they would set up the ETPs by the end of May, 2009.
Pollution board sleeps, effluents seep inThe Karnataka State Pollution Control Board’s (KSPCB) apathy has aided many industries in Bangalore Urban and Rural districts in flouting the laws that were enacted to prevent pollution.
KSPCB has analysed only 160 legal effluent samples and 12 legal air samples in 2006-07, 135 legal effluent samples and two legal air samples in 2007-08, which does not amount to even 1 per cent of industries in the city. The samples that are collected after ascertaining that a company is violating the standards set by the KSPCB are called legal samples.
Nearly 75 per cent of the collected legal samples failed to meet the standards set by the KSPCB. Yet no serious action has been taken against the erring industries.
There are 64,107 registered small-scale industries and 375 large-scale industries in Bangalore Urban district and 16,700 registered small-scale and 74 large-scale industries in Bangalore Rural district.
There are many more small industries that are operating without any authorisation and some large industries are still in the process of getting registered. Out of these many industries, KSPCB’s environmental officers have collected only 309 legal samples in both years put together.
Many of these industries do not even dispose their effluents according to KSPCB guidelines. Therefore, the groundwater in and around the industrial areas is polluted and heavy metals like chromium and lead are found in the water samples.
KSPCB member secretary M S Goudar said: “Industrial effluents are checked according to the discretion of the KSPCB. Apart from the legal samples, we have collected more than 2,000 other samples. Some of those samples do not meet the standards set by the KSPCB. A 45-day notice is served on the company that is found violating the standards. Normally the companies rectify their mistakes within 45 days. If a company does not comply with norms within 15 days, power and water supply is stopped.” It is impossible to regulate the pollution caused by these industries unless the KSPCB keeps checking the effluents discharged and initiates serious action against those that do not meet the set standards.
The Pollution Control Board had taken action against 17 government hospitals for not disposing its solid medical waste in accordance with the norms set by the board.
