Bengaluru: Scorching summer has triggered a acute water shortage in the city causing authorities to announce a 24-hour supply cut tomorrow, NDTV reported.
Plummeting levels in ground water and reservoirs have compounded the situation forcing city’s water board to look for sources such as the Cauvery basin, according to the report.
With the onset of summer, waters sources are going dry leaving people eagerly wait for water trucks.
They made long queues carrying empty buckets to collect water on Monday, highlighting the gravity of the situation, it is reported.
Meanwhile, a resident of Horamavu complained of having no groundwater for over a month, which made people pay double the usual charge for water.
‘The tankers charge ₹ 6,000. If we have to pay this price every day, it will become very difficult for us. Our savings are affected as we are paying both for drinking water and for water for other daily needs. We will be happy if the authorities help us,’ the resident reportedly said.
The government, according to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, is mulling over digging more borewells.
‘We have allotted ₹ 8 crore to solve the water issue. Some MLAs said borewells have been dug up to 1,500 feet. We are exploring the possibility of digging 500 meters deeper besides installing more borewells,’ said Shivakumar was quoted as saying.
Byrathi Basavaraj, BJP MLA for KR Puram constituency, came down on the government for not sorting out the crisis.
‘There's water scarcity everywhere. What is the government doing? I have written so many letters. All guarantees are being given but there is no money for this,’ he was quoted as saying.