Barely a drop to drink: Business Standard

Subir Roy: Barely a drop to drink: "

This is what Bangalore weather used to be like most of the year, said my neighbour and long-term resident, pointing to the overcast sky, the slight nip in the air and showers every so often. I couldn't agree with him more. But what neither he nor I could figure out was why there should be such an acute water shortage even when we are in the middle of a monsoon that has arrived on time and is behaving so well. There is an easy correlation between the rains and water supply in Karnataka which lives by its reservoirs. When these are doing fine life is bountiful. As the dry months inch towards the arrival of the monsoons, water in the reservoirs is preserved and taps run dry. Nobody complains as instead of saving for a rainy day, you are readying for the day when the rains may fail. But when it is raining so good, the reservoirs are approaching their high water mark and even neighbouring states are getting their share of the river water without any shouting, why on earth should water supply be so appalling? (snip)

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