Severe water shortage in Bengaluru as IT firms and 22 lakh employees struggle, one bucket of water allowed per family

BENGALURU: Bengaluru, the world's largest IT city, is facing a severe shortage of drinking water. The government has suggested that a family should use only one bucket of water a day. 67000 IT companies and their 22 lakh employees are affected. Work from home has been announced for employees. Those working in other sectors are also suffering. Malayalees are returning home en masse. Foreigners are also returning home. There is a water shortage in hospitals as well. Vacation has been declared for schools. Water is brought in tankers from tubewells in other districts. The rich are collecting water at a high cost. The price goes up accordingly.

Tanker mafia charges 2500 to 3000 rupees for a tanker of water. To prevent unfair prices, the district administration has fixed the rate at Rs 1000 for 1200 litre tanker water supplied within 5 km and 1200 rupees including GST if it is within 10 km.

Water is brought in tankers to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's official residence in Kumarakripa.

Drinking water turns ration

#Resident Associations provide one bucket of water per family through public distribution.

#Rs 5000 fine for wasting water

#Rs 20000 fine if tankers charge excessive fare

#No one to buy and rent flats.

#Food is served in disposable plates in hotels.

Kaveri dried up

180 of the 270 lakes in the city have been covered for new flats. The ground water level has allegedly gone down due to this. Currently, there are only 81 lakes. The prices of the flats also fell due to non-availability of water. In the city of Bengaluru, which is 920 meters above sea level, water is obtained by digging 40 to 90 feet.

55 crore litres of water is from borewells. Out of 10995 borewells, 1214 have no water. It is reported that 3700 will dry up within a week.

There are more than one and a half crore people in 6000 layouts. There is a requirement of 200 crore litres of water a day. 145 crore litres are from the Kaveri river. As the water in the Kaveri has decreased, 420 of the 600 water treatment plants in the city are not working. From the rest, water supply is two to four hours a day.