3A DECCAN HERALD B Sunday, February 26, 2017

Depleting water table

B L A N KP INT Borewells, sink no more

Whenthewatertablehasdepleteddangerouslyto1,500ftanddeeper,doestheproposaltosinkmoreborewellsmakeanysense?Thepriorityshouldbeonrechargingacquifiers,notexploitingthem.

Cornered by the impend-ing water crisis in Ben-galuru this summer,

shaken by the dried up reser-voirs, the government hasscrambled up a solution: Gounderground! Yes, they aretalking about borewells again.So what if the water table hasdepleted beyond redemption.

Unprecedented in scale, thewater shortage this year isbound to affect everyone inmyriadways.Butscientists,wa-ter experts and long-time Ben-galureans are unanimous intheir views: Borewells just can-not be a solution.

Last month, Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah had articulatedthe solution clearly. Newborewells had to be dug by

There are no signs of watereven at depths of 1,500 ft anddeeper.InareaswheretheBan-galore Water Supply and Sew-erage Board (BWSSB) has nopipeline network, individualborewells and water tankersare the only options. Many ofthese have dried up.

Anticipatingthepeakingwa-ter demand, tanker operatorshave hiked their rates. Withsources of water disappearingfast, more borewells are beingdug up flouting all rules. Resi-dents,bothof individualhousesand apartments, in the 110 vil-lages dread that the tankerrates could get unaffordable assummer advances.

BWSSB’s contingency planistosinkmoreborewells.Asur-vey by the Board found that938 out of 7,920 borewells inthe BBMP limits have becomenon-functional. The attemptnow is to revive these besidesdrilling about 400 more wells.But that would depend on howthe water crisis unfolds overthe next three months.

The Karnataka Regulationfor Protection of Sources ofDrinking Water Act poses achallengetoindiscriminatedig-ging of borewells. But the gov-ernment machinery could cir-cumvent this, citing watershortage.

Reversing depletionCan the inevitable depletion inthe ground water table level bereversed? This might sound id-ioticwhenthecontributingfac-tors for the depletion continueunabated across the city: Moretrees are being felled for infra-structureprojects likeneverbe-fore and efforts to revive lakesare yet to gather pace.

But the Indian Institute ofScience (IISc) had scientificallyproven that it is possible. Amini forest planted in a two-acre plot near the IISc Centrefor Ecological Sciences (CES)hadraisedthewatertablefrom200 ft to just over 10 ft. Theturnaround was remarkable.

The brain behind the proj-ect, senior scientist Dr T V Ra-machandraexplainsthatgreencover iscritical forwatertoper-colate and recharge thegroundwater. Due to road-widening and infrastructureprojects, Bengaluru has lostlakhs of trees.

Loss of green cover also hasa direct effect on heating.Measurements inside the miniforest in IISc had shown thatthe temperature within wastwo degrees cooler than out-side. The implication becomesapparent. The state’s fixationwith borewells is an idea whosetime has long gone!

PUSHPA THOMASResident, Indiranagar

Water tankers are an an-swer, but the quality ofwater is always suspect.Here, the rates for tankersvary. Some charge Rs 600for 6,000 litres others upto Rs 1,200.

Residents emphasise local solutions to address water woes

March. For years, the BruhatBengaluru Mahanagara Palike(BBMP) and its corporatorshad done so in wards acrossBengaluru.

Despite warnings from sev-

eral quarters, excessive drillingof borewells has goneunchecked. The water tablehas dramatically depleted inmany areas on the city’s out-skirts. Private tankers, by

drilling bores on massivescales, have been the game-changers.

Depleting water tableThe indications are clear.

of water is always suspect.Here, theratesfortankersvary.Some charge Rs 600 for 6,000litresothersuptoRs1,200.Therates peak when demand ismore. Some people have mo-nopoly. They decide the rates.But unless there is another op-tion private tankers are here tostay,” Pushpa feels.

She lamentsthat people sinkborewells up to 1,500 ft deep,unscientifically. “Groundwaterexploitation has made the wa-ter level go down. Maybe

recharging the groundwaterwould bring it up. The quantityof water stored from rains is fi-nite, whereas the usage is in-creasingday-by-day,”shenotes.

Priya Desai, Consultant, In-dia Water Portal, feels the gov-ernment should start lookingat localsolutions such as RWH,community efforts to rejuve-nate lakes across the city andtorechargegroundwatertoad-dress the water issue.

These localised solutions,she says, can work on a long-term basis. “We need to breakaway from the centralised de-

Senseless, foolishDrRamachandradubsit 'sense-less' and 'foolish' to believe thatborewells will solve the city'swater problem. “We have ab-solutely no right on the acquifi-er when the lakes are allowedto be encroached,”says the sci-entist.

Four decades ago, the city,throughits intricatenetworkoflakes had the capacity to store35 tmcft of water. “Today, 79%ofthoselakeshavedisappeared.

PRIYA DESAIConsultant,India Water Portal

It is sad to know that weare not able to harvestthe rain that can last forthe whole year. Like-minded people shouldcome together and en-couragecommunity efforts.

At the mercyof the tankers

It is still February but the blistering sun has left Ben-galureans deeply worried about the impending watercrisis in the next three to four months.While most areas in core Bengaluru get Cauvery water,

the situation is grim in the newly added 110 villages.These villages do not come under the purview of Banga-lore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), whichhas expertise in handling the water distribution systemand sewerage network.

Eventually, the citizens are left at the mercy of BBMPand the corporators, who call the shots in their respectivewards. Cauvery water has not reached most parts of these

110 villages. Borewells couldbe their saviour, but over-doing it has already de-pleted the water table inthese villages.

This year, BBMP has re-served Rs 40 crore for wa-ter supply, digging newborewells and repairingthe old ones.

BBMP commissioner NManjunatha Prasad says,“Understanding the gravi-ty of the situation, we havereserved Rs 40 crore. We

will make sure that peopledo not suffer for want of water.”

The problem, however, is the judicious expenditure offunds. As the water crisis looms large over these villages,it is time for water tankers to make brisk business. EvenBBMP officials are not left behind in this game of churn-ing money out of crisis. In most of these villages, watersuppliers draw water from the BBMP borewells and sell itelsewhere for rates ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 700 pertanker.

Ravindra (name changed), a resident of Alahalli in An-janapura, says the BBMP tankers do fill up water. “We,however, do not know where these tankers are actuallygoing. Instead of spending so much on tankers, the Palikecould have laid pipelines to supply water,” he says.

The situation across the five zones of BBMP, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bommanahalli, Mahadevapura, Yela-

hanka and Dasarahalli is more or less the same.Mayor G Padmavathi says the BBMP would act tough if

there are complaints of private tankers indulging in mal-practices. “We will take immediate action if there is infor-mation that the tankers are drawing water from BBMPborewells and selling it. In the 110 villages, we will makesure that water supply is adequate,” says the Mayor.

The BWSSB has plans only for the core area of BBMPinvolving three zones of East, West and South. “We arenot looking at the newly added areas. Apart from coreBengaluru, we are supplying water in six CMCs. We have7,900 borewells in these areas of which 690 borewellshave gone dry. Rest are in good condition. Whereverthere is water crisis and Cauvery water has not reached,we will supply water through tankers or through the net-work of borewells,” informs BWSSB engineer-in-chiefKemparamaiah.

G Manjusainath

Thecurrentstoragecapacityofthesurvivinglakesisonlyabout5 tmcft. Due to silt, that too hasreduced to 1.9 tmcft,” he in-forms,citingarecentIIScstudy.

Bengaluru's current annualwater demand is 18 tmcft. Sev-enty per cent of this could havebeen met through rainwateraloneifthelakeshadremained.BesidesrooftopRainwaterHar-vesting(RWH),hesays,theem-phasis should be on restoringthe lakes.To address the city'swater crisis in the long term,the priority should be onrecharging the undergroundacquifiers and not exploitingthem. In areas around activelakes, water becomes availableeven at depths of 100 ft.

The city generates about16.04 tmcft of sewage everyyear. Treating this and optionstorecycleandreusecouldmin-imise Bengaluru's dependenceon water from outside the re-gion.

However, this model of de-centralisedharvestingofwaterand reuse of treated sewage isnotanattractivepropositionforthe current breed of decisionmakers, say water experts.

Rasheed Kappan

AYYAPPA M MASAGIFounder, Water LiteracyFoundation

The government is spend-ing money only ondrilling new borewellsbut is not concernedabout sustaining the wa-ter table from where theborewells draw water.

Citizens need to movebeyond blaming the gov-ernment. At a neighbour-hood level, when peoplecollaborate, innovations canand do happen in securinglocal water resources.

no recharge’ continues thenourfuturegeneration wouldbeleft with only sea or ocean wa-ter, he warns.

To address the water crisis,Masagisuggestsroofrainwaterharvesting (RWH). “This is asimple way of channelising, fil-tering and collecting rainwateras an alternative to river, open-wells and borewell water. ByRWH, we can reduce pres-surised load on existing watersupply,” he says.

Another solution is torecharge the borewell or openwell. Lake construction and re-plenishment are ideal for thosewho have huge rainwatercatchmentarea. “After years ofresearch on lakes, I recom-

On private watertankers, SundarSenthilnathan says:“Private watertankers are symp-toms of growing wa-ter scarcity as well asinefficient watermanagement. Thebottomline is thatthere is a seriousmismatch betweendemand and resourcemanagement. We ascitizens need tomove beyondblaming the state.”

pendenceonwaterbecausethegovernment is not able to man-age it judiciously.”

ThegovernmentbringsCau-very river water from 100 kmaway, but the annual rainfallthat we get is actually enough.“It is sad to know that we arenot able to harvest the rain thatcan last for the whole year. Ifeel that like-minded peopleshould come together and en-courage the communityeffortsthan depending on the govern-ment to act upon the issue,”says Priya.

Pavithra T G

Summer is just around thecorner and water woeshavealreadygrippedBen-

galureans. In the past fewyears, the demand for waterhas been on rise in most of theareas due to depletion of watertable.

An increase in high-riseapartments, townships and vil-las has led to indiscriminatedigging of borewells, depletinggroundwater levels. On theother hand, water scarcity hasbecome widespread. To under-stand the concerns better, DHspeaks to residents and waterexperts.

AyyappaM Masagi, founder,Water Literacy Foundation,says, 15-20 years back, rainfallwas periodic, giving the soil

surface sufficient time to per-colate the rainwater into thesub soil. “Gradually, the citydrifted towards rapid industri-alisation and boom in real es-tate industry, led to the en-croachment of lakes by thebuilders,” he explains.

Bengaluru founder Kempe-gowda had constructed 382lakes. Only a few survive. Thegovernment, he says, is spend-ing money only on drilling newborewells but is not concernedabout sustaining the watertable fromwhere theborewellsdraw water.

If the trend of ‘Only use and

mend government that thereshould be a one-acre lake forevery 100 acres to bring backthe golden days when open-wells, rivers and streams werealways full.”

Waterusageduringsummeris naturally high, says PushpaThomas,aresidentofIndirana-gar. In summer, there is moreheat, more dust and sweat. Sobathing sometimes even twicea day becomes a basic require-ment, she adds.

Water supply twice a weekfor shorter duration has result-ed in a scarcity. “Water tankersare an answer, but the quality

SUNDAR MSENTHILNATHANPolicy Research, Arghyam

Jayanagar MLA B N VijayKumar stresses on perco-lation pits that can har-

vest rainwater.Hesays,“Bengaluruisanab-

normally growing city. Biggerareas such as apartments, ed-ucational institutions, parks,

stadiums, playgrounds androads should have percolationpits. These pits allow the rain-water to replenish the ground-water.

If it isprocuredmeticulously,wedon’thavetodependonoth-er resources for water.”

Percolation pits for RWH

Unprecedented inscale, the watershortage this year isbound to affecteveryone in myriadways. But scientists,water experts andlong-time Bengalure-ans are unanimous intheir views:Borewells just cannotbe a solution.

1,5007,92018 tmcft

1.9 tmcft

There are no signs of water evenat depths of 1,500 ft and deeperin many areas of Bengaluru.ft

ftA survey by BWSSB found that938 out of 7,920 borewells in theBBMP limits are non-functional.

Bengaluru's cur-rent annual waterdemand is 18tmcft. Seventy percent of this couldhave been metthrough rainwateralone if the net-work of lakes hadremained.

The current storage capacity of the surviving lakes is onlyabout 5 tmcft. Due to silt, that too has reduced to 1.9 tmcft.

In most of the 110villages under theBBMP limits, watersuppliers draw waterfrom the Palike’sborewells and sell itelsewhere for ratesranging from Rs 500to Rs 700 per tanker.