S Vishwanath, a Bengaluru-based water conservation knowledgeable — popularly referred to as ‘Zenrainman’ on social media — believes that nationwide mainstream media reporting on the town’s water shortage drawback has been “fully excessive” and that “everybody must calm the hell down”.
“In the event you outline a disaster as a city-level one, the options might be discovered at a metropolis scale. The Authorities will say ‘We’ll construct a big dam on the Cauvery referred to as the Mekedatu and that can deliver 3,000 million litres of water a day and remedy Bengaluru’s water drawback’. However really, it’s an area drawback of aquifer collapse. If we outline the issue accurately, we could have the suitable options for the town,” says Vishwanath, chatting with The Higher India.
“Incidental tales of individuals standing in a queue the place a borewell has damaged down in an RO plant or of some individual utilizing moist wipes to scrub themselves should not useful in any respect. Sure, real issues within the metropolis should be highlighted, however when you chase issues all day with 100 cameras, it’s loopy,” he provides, “This type of reporting isn’t serving to anybody in any respect.”
Vishwanath — a civil engineer and concrete planner with greater than three a long time of expertise within the water and sanitation sector — has beforehand labored on the Karnataka Water Coverage in 2019. He’s additionally a Trustee of the Biome Environmental Belief, a Bengaluru-based non-profit.
So, how would he outline the present disaster?
“Basically, it’s the failure of the state. In the event you construct your piped water community to the remainder of the town, then there might be much less stress in your aquifers, and there might be no want to attract groundwater. Your borewells could have water and there might be no want for tanker water provide. Because you’ve not given piped water provide [to some parts of the city], then the answer lies in groundwater extraction. Because of this when groundwater collapses, there isn’t any different supply of water provide,” he says.
Elaborating on this level additional, he says, “There is no such thing as a [water] drawback in about three-fourths of the town. We obtained 1,470 million litres of water [per day] coming from the Cauvery [river], and there are about 1.1 million [piped water] connections overlaying 10 folks per connection. For 11 million residents of the town, this isn’t an issue. For 3 to three.5 million folks dwelling within the outskirts depending on groundwater, there are [water scarcity] issues in pockets.”
Just lately the Bangalore Water Provide and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) issued an in depth record marking out areas most severely impacted by water shortage.
Based on information gathered from the Karnataka Groundwater Authority by The Hindu on 29 March, “The info of groundwater ranges for final December and this January and February reveals that Bengaluru East taluk, which homes one of many main IT corridors of the town, the place the water disaster is most extreme and groundwater exploitation unbridled, has seen essentially the most dip in groundwater ranges this summer season.”
So, why are some components of the town struggling a lot with water shortage?
Vishwanath explains, “It’s the proper storm. What occurred was that we had been alleged to get water from the Cauvery Section-5 challenge (delivering 775 million litres a day), and that ought to have been accomplished a yr and a half in the past. If this challenge had been accomplished, there would have been no disaster. With the completion of this challenge, thousands and thousands of individuals in Bengaluru who don’t have a piped connection would have one with water flowing in it. However that challenge obtained delayed and is predicted to be accomplished in Could-June 2024.”
“Additionally, a number of the main metropolis lakes have been drained and de-silted. That challenge ought to have been accomplished three years again, however this challenge has been occurring for 4 to 5 years. In the event you desilt and drain lakes for these a few years, their capability to recharge aquifers is non-existent. That’s the place all of the borewells have dried up,” he provides.
In components of the town, nonetheless, the groundwater desk is excessive, in keeping with Vishwanath.
“For instance, in Cubbon Park, the open recharge wells have ample water. A few of the lakes, that are filled with water, are good for percolation. In these areas, the borewells are at a depth of 150 to 300 ft. The place there isn’t any piped water provide, the groundwater desk could be very low. If the Cauvery Section-5 challenge is accomplished, the issue of water shortage within the metropolis will go away to a big extent. If the lakes are full of rainwater or tertiary handled wastewater, then the aquifers might be recharged and the issue will change into so much much less,” he says.
As Vishwanath famous earlier, there are actual issues that should be solved to handle water shortage within the metropolis. On this article, we’ll spotlight these issues and the way we will remedy them.
Reviving lakes, replenishing groundwater
Whether or not it’s Chennai, Bengaluru, or Hyderabad, earlier than piped water connections, motorised pumps or electrical energy might come into play, residents had been depending on floor water.
Now, on account of rampant urbanisation within the metropolis, lakes have change into nothing however leisure and aesthetically interesting water-holding constructions the place the hydrology or science behind that water physique is usually forgotten. In lots of instances, it additionally occurs that all year long Bengaluru’s lakes maintain sewage, and don’t have house for freshwater anymore. So, when rainfall occurs, these lakes are full of sewage to the brim and should not capable of take in that water.
“All this impacts the lake system, and thereby the groundwater. We’re probably the most intense borewelling communities on the earth. Nowhere else will you see so many borewells being dug in every single place, which technically depletes all of the groundwater reserves,” says Arun Krishnamurthy of the Environmentalist Basis of India (EFI), which revives water our bodies.
“With groundwater reserves depleted and lakes holding sewage, which additionally means there isn’t any house for freshwater from the monsoon rains to move into — all these elements put collectively are inflicting this sort of drought. Bengaluru isn’t the primary although on condition that Chennai went by way of one thing related in 2018-19. Any city pocket in India is sure to be affected by such a state of affairs on condition that we don’t have a transparent understanding of floor water our bodies,” he provides.
So, how do you go about revving these water our bodies and enhancing the groundwater stage?
Arun speaks of Devanahalli Kere, the primary lake EFI took up in Bengaluru for revival in 2022. As an organisation, they’ve largely focussed on suburban Bengaluru slightly than the primary metropolis space. It is because the suburban lakes had been heading on the present path of the town lakes.
“To forestall any sort of contamination or encroachment, we’ve taken up water our bodies in Ramanagara, Tumkur, and Bengaluru (Rural) districts, and the closest such lake to the primary metropolis is the Devanahalli Lake. Inside Karahalli, which is subsequent to Devanahalli, we’ve revived no less than 5 water our bodies. What we’ve achieved is deepening these water our bodies to extend storage capability, regulating their inlet and outlet channels so that there’s a free move of water, and we’ve additionally ensured recharge wells have been created in all these techniques,” explains Arun.
“Constructing these recharge wells is all about making certain there’s sufficient groundwater percolation. Making a water holding construction primarily based on the soil construction, understanding its utilisation worth to the area, and creating percolation trenches and recharge wells have all been our key focus — whether or not it’s in Devanahalli, Karahalli, the Baddihalli Lake in Tumkur metropolis, or the Hulikunte lake. EFI has restored all these water our bodies with this bigger level in thoughts,” he provides.
And the impression of all these initiatives on the communities who dwell close to these lakes has been seen. “Their borewells should not as dry as what we hear from different components of the town. These lakes, which had been usually used as dumping websites, at the moment are now not perceived as such. Individuals wish to defend them. When droughts happen, folks realise and perceive the importance of those lakes higher and so they volunteer with us to take care of and maintenance them,” he claims.
What goes into the upkeep and maintenance of those water our bodies contains the prevention of encroachment, dumping of rubbish, and sewage getting into that lake, and maintaining a tally of the water physique typically to take care of its high quality and space.
Nevertheless it’s additionally vital to make sure that the canals interlinking these lakes are properly maintained. As Arun notes, “Interlinking of water our bodies at an NGO stage is unimaginable just because between two lakes, the canal system that exists will largely fall beneath Authorities land or personal land. We will advocate Authorities companies to replace these canal techniques.”
“Our suggestions to the Authorities will even embody correctly mapping these water our bodies, watershed wetlands, and stopping encroachment the place mandatory and specializing in the structural integrity of freshwater techniques. We desperately want the latter right this moment. However we is not going to be ready to revive these interlinking areas fully just because we don’t have the bandwidth to speak to all of the landowners and take away encroachment or extra. What is feasible on our stage, nonetheless, is inlet-outlet regulation throughout the lake’s periphery,” he provides.
Are lakes in the primary metropolis past redemption?
“They aren’t past redemption if there’s a sturdy political will, heavy scientific backing, and full neighborhood understanding of the issue. Even when certainly one of these components is lacking, these lakes can’t be saved,” he says.
Recharge wells over borewells
In addition to lakes, one other key component in elevating the groundwater stage and establishing a surplus water provide is open recharge wells. An open [recharge] properly is just a gap within the floor that enables entry to water underground. These wells are used to extract water from the shallowest stage — sometimes present in unconfined shallow aquifers the place water is held with none stress. These aquifers obtain water when rain or different floor water percolates down into it — a course of referred to as recharge.
Talking to The Higher India, Vishwanath says, “As we communicate, properly diggers working with BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), as a part of the shallow aquifer administration challenge of the Authorities of India, lately cleaned up a properly in a specific locality very near my home referred to as Nandini Format. That [open recharge] properly right this moment provides one lakh litres of water [a day] and helps 500-700 resident households for non-potable use.”
“Within the north of the town, we at Biome Environmental Belief, with the assistance of a CSR initiative, cleaned up six wells, and in two of them, the ladies within the space advised us to not set up a motor. They wished to attract the water manually. Right now 50 to 70 households within the space can draw water from the properly. In two different wells, the city municipal council have put in pumps, and up to now, they’ve obtained 70 million litres of water for his or her city municipal space,” he provides.
Vishwanath goes on to elaborate on different such tasks his belief has launched into.
As he claims, “Within the Devanahalli township, the place the worldwide airport is positioned, we’ve been capable of work with a number of NGOs and companions who cleaned up a lake, which is now full of rainwater and well-treated wastewater from Bengaluru. This water filters into the earth and there’s an outdated open properly we’ve revived. That properly provides 2.5 lakh litres of water a day to which we’ve connected a water remedy plant and are supplying that water to the city of Devanahalli. We’ve additionally constructed filter borewells, that are shallow borewells which go 80 to 100 ft deep, and so they have a porous casing and performance like open recharge wells.”
“Wherever we do good [open] recharge [wells] and lakes are revived, it’s the shallow aquifer which comes again to life,” he provides.
Vishwanath believes that each constructing in Bengaluru could be a part of the answer. “Take all of the rainwater you possibly can, retailer it in a sump tank and reuse it. If in case you have extra rainwater, please guarantee that this goes into recharge wells in order that the shallow aquifer is full and then you definately dip into it in instances of want. That’s the general aim of our ‘One Million Wells for Bengaluru’ initiative.”
So, why weren’t these options put in place in components of the town that don’t have piped connections and are right this moment struggling for water?
“It is because we don’t have a groundwater administration plan. We don’t have a groundwater authority which integrates groundwater into our consuming water wants. We simply have somebody who permits us to drill borewells. We don’t understand how a lot groundwater exists beneath our ft, the place are the recharge zones, the place we retain them, how a lot water are we drawing from every sub-aquifer, and the way we draw a steadiness between demand and provide. Within the absence of a groundwater cell within the BWSSB or the absence of a groundwater plan or an aquifer administration plan, what occurs is everyone seems to be tapping into the aquifer,” explains Vishwanath.
What we’re seeing right this moment in Bengaluru is aggressive drilling. In components of the town, folks have dug borewells as deep as 1,800 ft.
“Everyone is taking water out. No one is placing water again in. Except we create the suitable sort of establishment, which is accountable for groundwater and manages it as a standard pool useful resource for all residents, that is what’s going to occur and is occurring. The issue is institutional and lies in governance or lack thereof,” provides Vishwanath.
If groundwater ranges are the issue within the periphery of the primary metropolis, Vishwanath advocates the necessity to transfer from aggressive drilling to cooperative filling.
“As soon as it’s cooperative filling, we have to fill the lakes and make recharge wells in order that when the rains come, the water flows into the aquifer. That’s the answer. At present, we’ve wonderful tertiary handled water in a few of our wastewater remedy vegetation like in Jakkur, Cubbon Park, and so forth the place you possibly can drink the water from the sewage remedy vegetation (STPs),” he says.
“We have to take this water and fill our lakes shortly, which at the moment are dry, in order that the aquifer will get recharged. We must always begin getting ready to scrub up our rainwater harvesting techniques and ensure new recharge wells are dug in order that when the summer season rains come, these drops of water are pushed into the aquifer. If that is carried out, we will overcome the issue within the quick run,” he provides.
Harvesting rainwater
The ‘One Million Wells for Bengaluru’ initiative was conceived and facilitated by Biome Environmental Belief to resolve the town’s water disaster someday in 2005. The motion’s important goal has been to allow households throughout the town to evolve to the legislation mandating rainwater harvesting. And this additionally contains “a recharge properly” choice.
Being on the helm of assorted tasks like ‘One Million Wells for Bengaluru’ and different rainwater harvesting initiatives, we requested Vishwanath to clarify their impression on the town.
“For instance, the Rail Wheel Manufacturing unit in Yelahanka, the place they’ve carried out good rainwater harvesting, their open recharge wells are giving them two lakh litres of water a day. At IIM Bangalore, the place rainwater harvesting has been carried out, their borewells are giving them water at 300 to 400 ft, and so they’re getting sufficient water,” claims Vishwanath.
“Wherever rainwater harvesting is completed properly and in concentrated quantities, there was no drawback. Their aquifers are full and have water regardless of this yr’s drought. Even in Cubbon Park, the place folks and organisations have carried out rainwater harvesting like Mates of Lakes, there’s water in open recharge wells. Rainwater harvesting can ship in X quantity of water however your withdrawal needs to be lower than X. In case your draw is 2X, then even this received’t assist,” he provides.
Having stated that, there are extra considerations in regards to the rainwater harvesting (RWH) infrastructure within the metropolis. It’s vital to notice that the BWSSB Modification Act, 2011, made RWH obligatory for all properties on plots measuring 60×40 sq ft and above, and new properties developing on 30×40 sq ft websites. In 2015, penalties had been launched for properties that didn’t comply.
In a 7 December 2023 report for Citizen Issues, a Bengaluru-based media publication, reporter Navya PK writes, “…the town at the moment has 10.8 lakh properties with water connections, however only one.9 lakh (almost 18%) of them have carried out RWH.”
“One other 39,703 properties have been recognized for non-implementation and are paying penalties each month. These properties embody particular person houses, flats (every house is counted as a single connection), and business properties,” she provides.
In different phrases, compliance is a severe subject though putting in a RWH system is neither very sophisticated nor cost-intensive. Vishwanath notes that residents ought to construct sturdy RWH techniques in order that they don’t need to face quality-related considerations down the road.
He believes that there are sufficient high quality supplies and competent plumbers current available in the market. A person residence can set up a RWH system for as little as Rs 5,000. Even when you insist on utilizing a high-quality filter, it may be carried out inside Rs 15,000, offered you don’t need to construct a brand new sump, he argues. And the advantages of this method are actual.
“In our residence, we’ve rainwater harvesting techniques which can be working optimally. Although the final rains within the metropolis had been in November, our 1,000-litre rain barrel nonetheless has sufficient water for our consuming and cooking wants until June,” provides Vishwanath.
On the query of compliance, in keeping with a Bangalore Mirror report by Sridhar Vivan on 9 January 2024, “A staggering Rs 21.24 crore was collected as penalties for non-compliance with rainwater harvesting laws till November-end final yr.”
For non-implementation of RWH in residential properties, fines begin from 25% of their water invoice for the primary three months, and 50% afterwards. For non-residential properties, it’s 50% and 100% of the water invoice respectively.
Vishwanath argues that it’s powerful to anticipate 100% compliance and argues that penalising residents might not be the way in which ahead. As a substitute, he recommends that folks ought to wish to arrange a RWH system of their houses after a strategy of training and communication. And the advantages of putting in such a system in every Bengaluru residence can be immense.
A Bengaluru Water Datajam organised final month by Open Metropolis, a civic tech challenge, discovered that primarily based on rainfall information from 2022, “456 Million Litres per Day(MLD) might have been harvested in Bengaluru from the rooftops, which is 25% of the water demand of the town – 1890 MLD.”
Is dipping into wastewater the way in which ahead?
Rashmi Kulranjan and Shashank Palur, who’re hydrologists at WELL LABS, wrote a column for The Hindu on 24 March 2024 the place they recognized an answer to the town’s water woes.
“Rainwater harvesting might make a dent on the freshwater wants of the town but it surely pales compared to wastewater. At present, solely one-third of the town’s wastewater is redirected for exterior reuse, which implies it’s taken to Kolar, Chikkaballapur, and Devenahalli, the place it’s used to replenish each groundwater and floor water sources,” they wrote.
“The remaining water flows into lakes and runs off land to hitch rivers downstream. This implies the massive quantum of wastewater generated within the metropolis is an untapped useful resource. As soon as handled to the required high quality, wastewater can considerably mitigate freshwater consumption and could be essential in making the town water resilient throughout low rainfall years,” they added.
It’s a sentiment that Vikas Brahmavar, founding father of Boson Whitewater, a Bengaluru-based water utility startup, shares. Talking to The Higher India, he says, “We must always not have a metropolis working on the hope of fine rains. In any case, if there aren’t any rains until June, will probably be a stress even on the municipal provide. We must always have a metropolis working on the hope of the wastewater flowing out and make use of freshwater provide as a buffer for our on a regular basis wants.”
“In any metropolis in India, when authorities plan water distribution, they by no means take a look at what goes out of the town. In the event you take a look at developed cities like Singapore, the planning isn’t primarily based on freshwater accessible in dams however primarily based on the predictable wastewater which goes out of the town, as a result of that may be estimated clearly primarily based on the inhabitants,” says Vikas.
“If the inhabitants of a given metropolis is understood, authorities in locations like Singapore know precisely the quantity of wastewater which goes out. From the amount wastewater estimated, authorities can then gauge which industries could be coated by that handled wastewater,” he provides.
When it comes to coverage, their start line is wastewater, which addresses sanitation in addition to industrial water necessities, after which they take a look at the freshwater accessible from dams or different sources.
“This massive mindset change has to return. Any creating nation ought to have this mindset of taking a look at wastewater first earlier than taking a look at freshwater choices,” notes Vikas.
The Boson Whitewater system converts handled wastewater into “high-quality potable water”. The setup has superior an IoT (Web of Issues), AI (synthetic intelligence) and machine studying (ML) enabled 11-step filtration system to cut back bodily, chemical and organic contaminants current in STP-treated wastewater. At present, they work with industries, IT parks, malls, and house communities in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and recycle their wastewater.
On the finish of their 11-step filtration course of, he claims that the water doesn’t have any contaminants. “E coli, coliforms, heavy metals, excessive hardness, pesticides, and herbicides are all eliminated, and the water is crystal clear and potable. Nationwide Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) licensed lab reviews point out the water is drinkable,” he provides.
Basically, Boson is concentrated on this monumental quantity of water which goes out of houses, flats, and places of work as handled wastewater.
“As per our estimation, a 300-unit house will generate about 1,50,000 litres of wastewater a day. The identical constructing complicated could have a sewage remedy plant however solely 20% (about 30,000 litres) of the handled water that comes out from this facility might be used. In different phrases, a couple of lakh litres of handled wastewater results in the drain,” he says.
“Our system can take this one lakh litre of handled wastewater and produce potable-quality water from it in order that the neighbouring houses or industrial amenities don’t have to take advantage of borewell water and as an alternative purchase our potable-quality water for no matter they need,” he provides.
Boson Whitewater is at the moment collaborating with the Bangalore Water Provide and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) on a separate challenge to handle the town’s water shortage drawback. However their prime focus has been the restoration of handled recycled water and promoting it.
“Wastewater will all the time be there whether or not there’s rainfall or not. Since we’re recovering high-quality water from wastewater, our shoppers haven’t been adversely affected as a result of they’ve an everyday provide which is assured by us on a contractual foundation. A few of our shoppers on uncommon events name in a tanker however for essentially the most half, we’re capable of get better the wastewater which is offered to the utmost extent and provide that to them,” he says.
(In Half 2, we’ll take a look at what residents of Bengaluru can do to mitigate water shortage within the metropolis.)
(Edited by Pranita Bhat)
(Photographs courtesy Shutterstock/PQN Studios/Joe Ravi/WESTOCK PRODUCTIONS/MudaCom, S Vishwanath & The Higher India)
