Bangalore now a land of thousand sewage tanks: V Balasubramanian

“Bangalore, once called the land of thousand lakes, has now become a land of thousand sewage tanks,” said V Balasubramanian, chairman, Center for Policies and Practices (CPP), at a workshop on ‘Famine of Bangalore 2020,’ organised by the CPP on Saturday.

“So far, not a single person has been prosecuted by the KSPCB although it has the authority to send polluters to jail. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) should discharge its legal responsibility and prosecute offenders under the Water Act. The KSPCB must take action against industries, building owners and even the water board, if they were found polluting the environment,” he said.

Currently, Bangalore has a population of over 85 lakh. By 2020, this figure is expected to touch 1.26 crore. This may lead to severe shortage of drinking water.

After the completion of stage IV of Cauvery Water Supply Scheme (CWSS), the city is expected to receive 1,425 mld of water. “But it is not possible to increase the supply, as the Cauvery tribunal allotment of 19 tmc of water will be exhausted with CWSS-Phase 2 in 2012. Of 1425 mld, 50 mld is for non-domestic purpose and 45% is non-revenue water,” he said.

To meet the water demand, steps must be taken to restore some big tanks by diverting the sewage and installing sewage treatment plants (STPs) and tertiary treatment plants (TTPs). “We must take steps to remove encroachments on 650 km of storm water drains.

The most important part is that we should fix the water leakage, which is amounting to over 400 mld,” he said.

He pointed out that the water recovered through the STPs must be used for non-potable purposes, such as washing, gardening, and flushing. “By converting STPs into TTPs, water can be re-used, just the way it is done in the Singapore.”  Former minister PGR Sindhia, trustee of CPP, said that, by 2020, the city would face severe shortage of drinking water.

A conference on water conservation is being planned for January or February, he said.

Former Lok Ayukta official Dr UV Singh said that the Lake Development Authority was hastily constituted as per the direction of the high court. There was so much work overlapping among agencies, and the confusion still persists. He said that even though tanks were developed, it doesn’t help much in increasing the capacity of water. Therefore, all developments must be stopped, he said.

Second, he stressed on the pending court cases pertaining to lakes. “I believe that the state government must request the high court to have a dedicated bench for hearing lake cases,” he said.

There is a provision in the constitution for having a separate bench, he said. He also stressed that steps must be taken to put an end to sand filtration.