City goes dry - Bangalore - Cities - The Times of India

City goes dry - Bangalore - Cities - The Times of India

Why should water supply be shut down in most areas of the city for
repair works
?

While BWSSB says the problem happens often in summer as power cuts affect pumping of water from reservoirs, Bescom insists that there are no power cuts in the city.

Caught in the crossfire are hapless Bangaloreans who are forced to go without water and power!

On Tuesday, BWSSB admitted that water supply can be less in the near future if power cuts don't stop. The frequency of water shortage in different parts of the city has increased over the past month.

On Monday and Tuesday, many parts of the city didn't get drinking water due to repair works of a pipeline. And, it could get worse in the next few days.

BWSSB VERSION

There are 50 low-level reservoirs (LLRs) with a depth of 8-12 metres. If the reservoirs are 75-80% full, then gravity makes pumping easier. But, if the level comes down, then the flow is less. "About 57 motors run day and night. They are of different capacities, varying from 1200 hp to 1650 hp. The frequent power cuts are affecting the inflow, as motors are not able to work at 50 cycles per second; they often work at 45-48 cycles. Recently, there was no power at Harohalli, which caused severe water shortage in different areas. Due to some repair works, water flow was stopped to the 4th stage areas of South-West and East Bangalore,'' officials said.

NO SCIENTIFIC SOLUTION?

Over 70 lakh people depend on Cauvery water pumped from 100 kms away. There is no scientific solution or alternative to this problem. We just hope the power woes settle.

TANKER SOLUTION

BWSSB assures that if there is no water for five to six days at a stretch, then BWSSB will arrange for tankers to supply water.

Citizenspeak

* There is water shortage in S T Bed, Koramangala, specially in the northern parts like Friends Colony. It's been more than a month. In fact, unofficially they have told us that supply will be 30% less because of inadequate power to pump. A pump is supposed to come up at HSR Layout and the situation will improve when that happens.

B S Ananthram, RWA member, S T Bed Koramangala

* Parts of Jayanagar did not have water supply on Monday and Tuesday. There has been acute shortage in 4th and 4th B Block.

H Keshavakumar, RWA secretary, Jayanagar

* Many areas in Basaveshwaranagar have been facing shortage on a regular basis.

M Venugopal, Citizens for Civic Amenities

All's well: Bescom

There is no problem with power at all. We provide 24 hours power to Bangalore city and we haven't received any complaints from BWSSB on this.

B N Satya Premkumar, general manager, Bescom