Drinking water kiosks that attract long queues of people even in Bengaluru are not really the responsibility of any civic agency, unlike the ones in rural areas, where they have become hugely popular and are supervised by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department.
No one really knows how many such ‘water ATMs’ have come up in the city, let alone keep track of who is buying the water. Local administrators, with financial help from corporate houses, are establishing them wherever there is a necessity.
In the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency, for example, over 18 water ATMs have come up, some on the PPP (public-private partnership) model.
Residents in rural areas have photo identity cards which they need to show before buying the water. In the city, however, at most ATMs, those manning them just take the money and let anyone fill water.
“We invested money, with the help of the people, to establish the ATM. Excluding digging of the borewell, the construction cost was around Rs. 3 lakh, while the RO (reverse osmosis water purifier) machine cost Rs. 4 lakh. The main intention was to benefit the people. During summer, when there is just enough water for them, where is the water for commercial use?” asked councillor K. Shivakumar, under whose tenure as councillor of Shantalanagar ward a water ATM was set up in Ashoknagar. But keeping track of who takes the water and preventing commercial users are up to the locals, he added.
Water conservationist S. Vishwanath, however, argued against regulating these ATMs, and instead favoured establishment of more such kiosks.
