India’s ‘Silicon Valley’, Bengaluru is going through one of its worst droughts ever that has driven people to ration water through extreme measures. Just five showers in a whole month, queues in front of borewells as long as 1 km, and heavy fines of using treated water for non-drinking purposes are some instances to suggest that Bengaluru residents have been driven to the edge over this crippling drought. Not only this, but the substantial IT workforce of the city from other states is looking for work-from-home opportunities, so that the population of Bengaluru using the water is limited. Even the government is taking dire measures to ensure that the water is supplied to the city.
Residents of the city inform the media that the water shortage has severely affected their day-to-day life. For example, residents of Babusapalya inform that due to lack of sufficient water supply from the water tankers, they have been facing problems for the past 2-3 months. One resident even claimed that he took a bath just 5 times over the past month thanks to the severe drought. According to reports, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has banned the use of drinking water in swimming pools in the city.
The water shortage has also been severely affecting the employment sector of the city, as the IT-hub has a large number of IT-aspirants who flock to the city from around the country for lucrative opportunities. However, techies are looking for opportunities to work-from-home in order to minimize water usage in the city. According to media sources, most techies agree that work-from-home is a viable option in order to reduce the population so that water usage can be managed.
The escalating water crisis has led to the city’s lakes drying up as it faces one of its worst droughts in recent years. In the midst of the water crisis, a poignant photograph Nallurahalli Lake in Bengaluru’s Whitefield area shows a dead fish on a dry lake bed. This is the same lake that overflowed in 2022 and submerged more than 400 parked cars in nearby apartments. This time however, the dry lake bed forshadows a bigger ecological problem for the state.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar had convened a crucial meeting to address the worsening water shortage in the city. Following the meeting it was announced that the state government plans to use milk tankers from Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) to deliver water to Bengaluru while also taking control of the borewells in and around the city.
Bengaluru primarily gets its water supply from two sources - Cauvery river and groundwater. For most non-drinking uses, recycled water processed by sewage treatment plants is used. With no rain for a while now, the primary sources have been stretched to their limits. Bengaluru needs 2,600-2,800 million litres of water daily, and the current supply is half of what's required. The result is a daily struggle for the city's residents.