Parched throats and holed pockets

Thirsty City:

Irrational sinking of borewells leading to overexploitation of groundwater has forced the residents of Bommanahalli and its surrounding areas to depend almost solely on water tankers. That the supply of Cauvery water is dismal, does not help either.

“It is not that the borewells came about without the need. With water crisis being a part of our lives and the population here doubling, borewells became the need of the hour. We do not even have regular Cauvery water here. What do we do?” an angry resident asks.

Added to this woe is the nexus between the local politicians and water distributors. “Even though we pay Rs 500 a tanker, sometimes, we get water by tanker only once in 15 days,” says Rani, a housewife.

Even water supplied by  BBMP has a price attached to it. Sandhya, a resident of Hongasandra said: “Every time we get water through tankers, we are forced to pay Rs 100 to the local valve operator.”

Water distribution here is an arena of politics. Shamanna Reddy, a resident says: “Many a time, I have seen the valve operator releasing water only after confirming our political affiliation.”

BWSSB Assistant Executive Engineer N A Junaidi, however, told Deccan Herald: “We supply water to all the divisions five times in a month through our pipeline. Although I ensure that water is supplied to the residents, it is not easy to monitor the valve operator or the tankers.”

He says the lack of water supply to the area makes distribution difficult. “We receive water from Kothanur tank. If there is no power supply at the main pumping houses, there is severe shortage of water in the tank.”

Complaints go in vain

The residents, however, have more problems. In Vidhya Jyothi Nagar, Hongasandra and other areas, numerous complaints to the concerned authorities have gone in vain.  Rani says: “We pay all the water bills on time, but still we don’t get enough water.”

Residents who have tenants are suffering the most as the borewells in their houses have dried up. Ramaiah, for example, buys drinking water cans that cost Rs 30. Vasantha filters the borewell water to use it in the kitchen.

Sumathi and Elavarasi who stay in an apartment with 50 houses say: “We survive on the Cauvery water supplied twice a month for drinking and share borewell water for other purposes.”

The problem, Sumathi said, is that the Cauvery water is supplied just for 30 minutes, twice a month. “...And with so many people here it gives us no time to collect enough water.”

“Some of us here get both the Cauvery water and borewell water through the same pipeline with no notification on what is supplied when, leaving us with no scope for planning,” says Elavarasi.

Bharathi and Sandhya, residents of Hongasandra said they get neither Cauvery water nor  borewell water. “We have to pay one rupee for a pot of water supplied through BWSSB water tankers.”

One suggestion from the residents that echoes through the area is that the BWSSB should build a tank in each locality instead of supplying water through its pipelines.