Bengaluru facing shortage of 500 MLD water daily, admits Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that Bengaluru is facing a shortage of 500 million litres per day (MLD) water every day and the State government has taken various measures to mitigate its impact. This is the first time that the water shortage the city is facing this summer has been quantified.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that Bengaluru is facing a shortage of 500 million litres per day (MLD) water every day and the State government has taken various measures to mitigate its impact. This is the first time that the water shortage the city is facing this summer has been quantified.

“The city needs 2,600 MLD of water, of which 1,450 MLD is coming from the Cauvery and 650 MLD from the underground water table through borewells. There is a shortage of 500 MLD,” he said. 

The Chief Minister was speaking after chairing a review meeting of the drinking water crisis in the city on Monday, the first time he had done so. 

Apart from elaborating on several measures taken to mitigate and navigate through the crisis, Mr. Siddaramaiah also announced that a technical advisory committee would be formed to ensure that such a drinking water crisis doesn’t recur in the city. 

Mr. Siddaramaiah said that there was enough water in the Cauvery basin to provide for the drinking water needs of the city till June-end, by when the monsoon would have begun. “There is 11.02 tmcft of water in the KRS reservoir and 9.02 tmcft in the Kabini reservoir,” he said. 

The crisis is in the outer zones which are yet to be served by the Cauvery water, the Chief Minister said. “These areas will also get the Cauvery water from this June after the Cauvery Stage V is commissioned,” he said. 

At present, these areas are solely dependent on borewells and owing to drought many of them have gone dry, exacerbating the problem, he said. “Of the 14,000 government borewells in the city, 6,900 have dried up. We are drilling new borewells in 313 places and rejuvenating 1,200 borewells. Funds are not a problem. We have given enough funds for drinking water purposes,” he said.