Bengaluru solely depends on Cauvery to satisfy its water needs.
The states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been at logger heads over sharing of Cauvery water in a distress year. The failure of south west monsoon has resulted in water storage in crucial reservoirs dipping to alarming levels in Karnataka. And every time the water level dips in KRS Dam, citizens of Bengaluru start worrying, as the IT city depends solely on Cauvery to satisfy its water needs.
But the city of Bengaluru could perhaps be self-sufficient or in fact be water surplus with very little effort and investment, according to a study the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
The latest report by the Energy and Wetland research group of IISc has this data coming out at a crucial time. The study notes that the city receives annual water yield of 14.8 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) through rainfall. And if the government adopts harvesting this water through rejuvenation of lakes then 73 per cent of the city's water needs would be met.
The report also goes on to mention the scope available to recycle 1258 MLD (million litres per day) of sewage generated, which will result in 16.04 TMC of new water annually.
Harvesting and recycling put together can ensure availability of 30.85 TMC of water for the city annually, against the demand of 20.05 TMC, thus making the city water surplus.
In fact, last year when majority of districts in Karnataka were declared drought-hit, Bengaluru received normal to excess rainfall but still faced acute drinking water crisis during summer months.
Activists and organisations working for rejuvenation of lakes argue that its time the city reestablished interlinked chain of lakes, which once upon a time ensured that city was water sufficient.
"There was a scientific idea on which Bengaluru had invested on lakes, which is lost now. IISc study comes at the right time where we can come back and recover our lakes which can act as source of drinking water and replenish our ground water," said Sridhar Pabbisetty of Namma Bengaluru Foundation.