The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is entering into an exclusive arrangement with the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) to prevent power disruption and ensure that water supply to the city did not get affected in the event of a power-related problem.
Minister for BWSSB and IT/BT Katta Subramanya Naidu told The Hindu on Wednesday that he would soon discuss the issue with Additional Chief Secretary K. Jairaj, who is also the Principal Secretary (Energy).
“We plan to get exclusive express feeder lines from the Bidadi Gas Plant up to Thorekadanahalli (T.K. Halli), which is the main reservoir from where 870 mld of Cauvery water is pumped to the city,” he said. He said the board would reciprocate by supplying 80 mld of treated sewage water to the plant. “We will soon sign a memorandum of understanding in this regard. Most of the times there are water supply problems because of power failures,” he said.
Deadline extended
The BWSSB will extend the May 27 deadline to implement rainwater harvesting in existing buildings by another two months. Announcing this while replying to questions at a press conference, the Minister said there was a tremendous response and 25,000 houses had implemented it.
Water tariff
The Minister said a hike in water tariff was imminent, said it would happen after the rains. “We first want to improve the water supply situation in the city. The proposal is still pending before the Cabinet,” he said.
The board has appointed 655 more engineers and they would report for duty within 15 days. Following this, the board would entrust the management of water supply in four zones of east, west, south and north to chief engineers, the Minister said.
Also, additional technical staff would be deployed to man supply in every Assembly constituency, he added.
