Exploring Bengaluru’s complex relationship with water Premium

From the Arkavathi, which originates in Nandi hills, to the Vrishabhavathi, which is believed to have been born in this very city and the Dakshina Pinakini traversing through the eastern ends of Bengaluru, including Chikkaballapur, Hoskote, Malur, Kadugodi, and Sarjapura, “the city once had a network of rivers and natural streams flowing through it,” states a story map at Waterscapes of Bengaluru, a new exhibition jointly developed by the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM) and the Paani Earth Foundation.

We all know that Bengaluru was once known as the city of a thousand lakes, but did you also know that it was also once watered by many rivers?

From the Arkavathi, which originates in Nandi hills, to the Vrishabhavathi, which is believed to have been born in this very city and the Dakshina Pinakini traversing through the eastern ends of Bengaluru, including Chikkaballapur, Hoskote, Malur, Kadugodi, and Sarjapura, “the city once had a network of rivers and natural streams flowing through it,” states a story map at Waterscapes of Bengaluru, a new exhibition jointly developed by the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM) and the Paani Earth Foundation.

The exhibition, which is being held at the VITM and will include workshops, expert interactions, and demonstrations, is open till Independence Day. “As August 15 approaches, through these efforts, we hope the rivers will finally get the attention they deserve, with tangible steps taken to set them free,” says Jyoti Mehra, curator at VITM, which has partnered with numerous city-based organisations, including WELL Labs, Biome Environmental Solutions, MOD Foundation, Mythic Society and Ecosattva for the initiative.

Waterscapes of Bengaluru: Flows and Futures of our City’s Rivers and Lakes, which takes visitors on a journey through the city’s evolving waterscapes, from ancient wisdom to modern-day challenges, explores “the city’s relationship with water, which has always been complex,” she says. Through a series of digital interactives, games, puzzles, and hands-on water-based activities, the organisers hope to provide visitors with an immersive experience to help them learn about the background and threats faced by the city’s rivers, once central to the city’s ecological balance, but now heavily encroached upon and polluted.

They will also get to explore Bengaluru’s ingenious network of interconnected lakes, tanks, and open wells that once captured seasonal rain and supported everyday life, but is today largely distorted due to rapid urbanisation, resulting in dependence on large-scale water supply schemes like the Cauvery project, which pumps water over 100 km uphill to reach the city, says Mehra.

According to her, the explosive growth of Bengaluru’s population from 0.16 million in 1901 to over 14 million today and widespread concretisation has forced the city to draw over 50% of its water from the ground. “The struggle to balance growth with its fragile hydrology is a constant one, which has led to people digging deeper, drawing farther, and reaching wider in search of water,” she says, adding that the warning signs to the health of our water system are obvious: frothing lakes, floods, and failing borewells in the city.

While this exhibition is a stark reminder of the acuteness of the crisis, it also celebrates the revival of water wisdom, from the K-100 project to the Million Wells Campaign to lake rejuvenation projects and urban wetland protection. “These efforts are living blueprints for a future where water is co-owned, co-managed, and co-created by all.”