Bidadi, Elecronics City to be water sustainable

‘Making compliance cost of water use and conservation standards for industries low the way forward’

March 12, 2014 10:59 pm | Updated June 15, 2016 04:21 pm IST - Bangalore

Many layouts are now swiched to borewell taps, but taps going dry as water table going down every day in Bangalore. This crowded water taps at New Bagalur Layout in Bangalore had to fetch water withing an hour or two before they disconect the supply. Photo: K. Gopinathan

Many layouts are now swiched to borewell taps, but taps going dry as water table going down every day in Bangalore. This crowded water taps at New Bagalur Layout in Bangalore had to fetch water withing an hour or two before they disconect the supply. Photo: K. Gopinathan

Electronics City and the Bidadi Industrial Area are soon to become water sustainable zones (WSZ), with some help from the Karnataka unit of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

The WSZ, engineered by CII’s water task force, is the outcome of an integrated urban management plan that will work to reduce usage of fresh water while increasing its availability through measures like rainwater harvesting and recharging of groundwater.

At the Annual Urban Water Conference organised by the CII on Wednesday, Hariprasad Hegde, convenor, CII Karnataka Water Taskforce, said the Electronics City Industries Association (ELCIA) and Bidadi Industries Association (BIA) have agreed to implement water sustainability in their areas.

A study titled ‘An Integrated Water Management Startegy for Bengaluru’ by international consultants McKinsey was released on the occasion. The study recommends a six-point action plan — to encourage recycling and reuse, increase rainwater harvesting, rejuvenate lakes, design a solution to use tertiary treatment water, stem leakages and formulate a comprehensive strategy for sustainable use of ground water.

Karnataka State Water Network (KSWN), a platform that aims to bring together groups working on water, was launched at the event. The network, designed as an industry outreach program by the CII, aims to develop into an online platform and co-opt civil society and all stakeholders.

Kapil Mohan, Principal Secretary, State Water Resources Department, who launched the initiative, said laying down water use and conservation standards for industries and making the compliance costs low was the way forward. Mr. Mohan said water audits would become a norm in the near future.

Maheshwar Rao, State Commissioner for Industrial Development, said while water availability in the northern Krishna basin was better than in the southern Cauvery basin, industries opted for the already-stressed Cauvery basin due to various factors like location, connectivity, logistics and market.

He said adapting green technologies and water conservation measures could de-stress the Cauvery basin.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.