2 years without water, News - City - Bangalore Mirror,Bangalore Mirror

2 years without water, News - City - Bangalore Mirror,Bangalore Mirror

2 years without water

Out of the 350 families in BDA Layout on Old Airport Road, 40 are not getting water for the last two years; their only source of water is private tankers

Shashwathi Bhanukumar

Posted On Friday, March 05, 2010 at 04:31:18 AM

We fume when we don’t get sufficient water during summer. But the plight of residents of BDA Layout, on Old Airport Road, is even worse. They have not been getting water for the past two years.



What is peculiar in the layout is, out of the 350 families, only 40 are not receiving water. “Before 2007, we used to get an adequate supply of water. Sometimes, water used to overflow and we had to stop it by shutting the valve. Now, it’s another extreme,” says K Bhaskar Rao, a resident.

While 300 homes receive water through a pipeline from Domlur, 40 get it from Ulsoor via Jeevan Bima Nagar. Previously, these 40 homes too used to receive water from Domlur, but in 2007, their pipeline was linked to that from Ulsoor.

“Whenever we complain, the Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board (BWSSB) officials say the water pressure from Ulsoor is low. Engineers in-charge, Prabhakar Reddy and Srinivas Reddy, conduct an inspection every now and then in our area. Water comes the next day and stop again. How long can this go on?” asks Subramanya M, another resident.

For the past two years, residents are getting water through private tankers. There are some like Geetha B S, a housewife, who gets it through the BWSSB tankers. “First, we have to go to the BWSSB office at Indiranagar, collect the bill and hand it over to the tanker people about 10 km away. Only after that will the tankers come, that too at their convenience,” says Geetha.

These residents get water through tankers once in two days. “We pay Rs 250 per tanker. Every month, our water (tanker) bill comes to Rs 3,750. This is the amount we have been spending every month for the past two years,” says Subramanya.

The tanker water is also not clean. “There have been cases where old people and the children have fallen ill; they had to taken to the hospital,” said Bhaskar.

According to a BWSSB staff, the valve has to be replaced to ensure smooth flow of water. But this solution begs for action.

Assistant Executive Engineer Prabhakar Reddy said the “water is there, but it is not enough”. When enquired further, he refused to comment.