Oct 2006-The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Two bulk water suppliers for `Greater Bangalore'?

The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Two bulk water suppliers for `Greater Bangalore'?: "

If Greater Bangalore comes into being, there may be a single civic body, covering an area of 700 sq km and perhaps, 140 wards under Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. It will also have more revenue if property tax in the city municipal council (CMC) areas is assessed on par with areas within the city proper.Under the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Act, 1964, the board is empowered to provide safe drinking water to the metropolitan area. Legal experts say this may not cover areas now under the CMCs, and fresh legislation may be needed to serve these areas.

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Oct2006-The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Greater Bangalore water supply project, a burden?

The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Greater Bangalore water supply project, a burden?: "

The Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWASP) may result in centralising the decision-making and control while decentralising the debt burden. The city municipal councils (CMCs) served by the project may have to incur debts to finance their part of the funding and pass it on to consumers in the form of increased tariff.This may happen even if the seven CMCs and one Town Municipal Council are merged under Greater Bangalore. A disturbing feature is that while the CMCs incur debts to fund the water supply, they may have fewer funds left for providing civic amenities to the residents. The urban poor in 'non-notified slums' may be left out of the picture altogether.Because the project was developed with little public consultation or disclosure of information, GBWASP appointed citizens' representative Janaagraha, walked out of the project in February this year. Now both Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation control the project design and operation. Elected members of the CMCs have had no part and their role has been left unclear.

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Sep 2006- The Hindu : Front Page : 100 more slums to get water supply

The Hindu : Front Page : 100 more slums to get water supply: "

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board's has laid emphasis on Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project with a view to improving the board's services to the urban poor.This project will not only cover more slums but also ensure that the urban poor get improvised services.The board has set up a social development unit which is replicating and upgrading the ideas and concepts of various pilot projects, including the Australian Agency Aid (AusAID) Project.Though the board is supplying water to 360 slums at subsidised costs in the city, it is gearing up to extend the facility to 100 more slums.Health and Family Minister R. Ashok, who is also in-charge of Bangalore Urban district, recently announced that the project would benefit residents of 100 more slums in and around the city.

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July 2006 The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Hongasandra has remained a poor cousin of HSR Layout

The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Hongasandra has remained a poor cousin of HSR Layout: "

Civic amenities? What's that, ask the residents of Hongasandra on Hosur Road, a ward under the Bommanahalli City Municipal Council (CMC) limits.Residents of Jnana Bharathi School Road, Om Shakthi Temple Road, Gurumurthappa Layout, Shanti Nagar and Vajpayee Nagar are an unprivileged lot. There is no primary health centre within a radius of three kilometres, buses do not ply in the area, there is no drainage system either for rainwater or sewage, garbage is not collected regularly and there is no drinking water.Despite being a part of the information technology (IT) corridor, Hongasandra has remained the poor cousin of HSR Layout.The Bangalore Water Supply Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has to lay tertiary drains and connect it to Raja Kaluve (the main sewage channel) but it is yet to undertake the task. Roads in the layout are only 10 ft wide. Narasimha Murthy, executive engineer, BWSSB told The Hindu that the area came under the second phase of the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWASP) and that work would start soon.

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July 2006-The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : People in CMCs may have to put up with water problem for one more year

The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : People in CMCs may have to put up with water problem for one more year: "

Residents of the city's suburbs may have to put up with water problems for another year as work on the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWASP) is likely to be delayed.Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is executing the project at a cost of Rs. 802 crore in the six city municipal councils (CMCs) and one town municipal council (TMC) around Bangalore. Work on the water supply component taken up at a cost of Rs. 410 crore is under progress and has to be completed by October this year as per the original deadline.While BWSSB officials in charge of the project are confident that work will be completed within the stipulated deadline, sources told The Hindu on Friday that work on the water component itself will take another year. With the State Government's plans to add more areas into the BMP limits and also merge the CMCs with the BMP, the tendering process for installing the supply lines is getting delayed. Though 40 per cent of work has been completed, everything depends on the reorganisation of areas under the CMCs, sources say.

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July 2006-The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Review stand on water supply to outskirts, BWSSB told

The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Review stand on water supply to outskirts, BWSSB told: "

Is the State Government keen on water privatisation in the city's suburbs? It seems so if the Government's recent direction to Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) asking it to reconsider its proposal to run the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWASP) is anything to go by.BWSSB is executing the project at a cost of Rs. 802 crore in six City Municipal Councils (CMCs) and one Town Municipal Council (TMC) around Bangalore. Work on the water supply component taken up at a cost of Rs 410 crore is under progress and is likely to be completed by January 2007.The former BWSSB Chairman Ashok Kumar Manoli had written to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in February that it could run the Greater Bangalore project at costs much less than those quoted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group that is financing the project. It is learnt that the department has asked BWSSB Chairman N.C. Muniyappa to reconsider this proposal.

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July 2006 - The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Water supply privatisation opposed

The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Water supply privatisation opposed: "

To protest against the Government's proposed move to privatise operation and maintenance of the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWSSP), several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and social activists in the city will launch a six-day jatha on Monday.The jatha, being organised by the Campaign Against Water Privatisation (CAWP), will take off at Marathahalli in Mahadevapura and move on to Krishnarajapuram, Yelahanka, Byatarayanapura, Dasarahalli, Kengeri, Rajarajeshwarinagar and Bommanahalli. It will end at Bommanahalli on July 15.

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June 2006-The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : People told to help BWSSB in its task

The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : People told to help BWSSB in its task: "

The issue of privatisation of water supply was under scrutiny at a panel discussion organised by Citizens Voluntary Initiative for the City of Bangalore (CIVIC) on Saturday.Y.V. Rajendra, director of 'Janasahyog,' asked officials not to give in to pressure.'People must assist the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and the State Government to overcome their limitations in providing water supply so that private players are not let in. Otherwise, there will be water crisis,' he said.

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April 2006-The Hindu : Front Page : BWSSB gets Rs. 1,140-cr loan

The Hindu : Front Page : BWSSB gets Rs. 1,140-cr loan: "

In addition to an accord on soft loan for the Bangalore metro rail project, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is giving Rs. 1,140 crore of loan to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) for augmenting supply of water and improving sewerage system in and around the city.This loan is for the second part of the phase II of Greater Bangalore Water Supply Scheme.

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Feb 2006-Greater Bangalore water project on course-The Economic Times

Greater Bangalore water project on course-Bangalore-Cities-Real Estate-Markets-The Economic Times: "

It won't be long before the seven city municipal councils (CMCs) and one town municipal council (TMC) will have access to water supply and a drainage system. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board's (BWSSB) answer to the lack of these basic facilities in the outskirts of the city through the nearly Rs 802 crore Greater Bangalore water supply and sanitation project (GBWASP) is progressing full swing.

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