Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: Technology to harvest water out of thin air in parched Bengaluru, and more

Imagine getting around 100 litres of water every day from thin air when Bengaluru is battling a water crisis. Enter Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG), which uses cutting edge technology to convert water vapour in the air into fresh and 100% microbe-free drinking water. The vapour is converted to water droplets through the process of condensation. The water then goes through multiple filtration processes and is also passed through a mineral cartridge to infuse necessary minerals. 

Several institutions in Bengaluru, including government schools and hospitals, have benefitted from this. K. R. Puram Government Hospital was among the initial beneficiaries of this technology almost four years ago. With an installed capacity of 300 litres, the water from these generators is used for the dialysis centre and maternity division in the hospital in east Bengaluru.

The delay in installation of power supply lines in Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL) of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is leading to repeated theft of electrical equipment. The contractors have erected electric poles, transformer poles and drawn copper line wires across the layout besides feeder box units, transformer components, Ring Main Unit (RMU) components. But, over the past few months, burglars are allegedly stealing the components of these equipment.

Despite almost nine years into allotment of sites, the formation of the layout is yet to be completed. Only a couple of houses have been constructed in the layout. Although the work to set up a sub-station to supply power to nine blocks in the layout commenced in mid-2022, at least 20% of the work is remaining.

In what is touted to be a means to provide uninterrupted power supply to consumers and prevent shutdown during maintenance of power lines, the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) has procured insulated aerial work platform vehicles from Brazil. 

Three such vehicles are already being used for the management of transmission lines and sub-stations up to 400 kv voltage in Bengaluru, Chitradurga and Hubballi while two more have been procured for Mysuru and Gulbarga regions. Fifteen personnel from KPTCL have been trained to operate and maintain these insulated vehicles. 

In all, 116 species of birds were spotted in and around Mangalore University campus at Mangalagangotri during the ninth annual Campus Bird Count (CBC) conducted recently. Of them, nine species are new additions to the aviation list of the university.