Even as the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has assured better water supply during Ugadi festival, people are worried.
Residents of eastern parts of the city, especially those residing in areas falling under Pulakeshinagar (Fraser Town) Assembly Constituency, said they only hoped they are not forced to go through the same ordeal of fetching water even during Ugadi.
“Although the officials promise tanker water supply, we have to keep waiting for the tanker to arrive. Most of our time is wasted in collecting water in pots from the tankers,” said Dharma Gowda, a resident of Pillanna Garden.
Nagalakshmi Gowda, a resident of Ranganathpura near Kamakshipalya said Ugadi was no different from other days for her. “There is a mini water tank on the adjacent road. We are entirely dependent on supply from this tank,” she said.
Frantic calls
On Thursday, which also happened to be World Water Day, the BWSSB's call centre received 120 calls about water shortage.
“This is a little more than the number of calls received on normal days,” said a staffer at the call centre.
BWSSB Engineer-in-Chief T. Venkataraju said efforts were being made to ensure people are not inconvenienced during Ugadi.
“The demand for water goes up by 10 per cent (nearly 100 million litres of water per day–mld) during festivals. This is because people usually use more water to clean their homes and for washing utensils and upholstery. Although the available water is only 900 mld, the city's usual requirement is nearly 1,250 mld. During summer, the requirement is more than 1,450 mld,” Mr. Venkataraju said.
Apart from free tanker supply to worst-affected areas, the board had directed all the 26 special officials deployed in various divisions to inspect their jurisdictional areas during supply days. “These officials will check water wastage and supply. Our valve men have been directed to strictly adhere to the supply timings and not oblige any extraneous requests,” he said.
Water from T.G. Halli
To meet the needs of residents of areas in west Bangalore that are fed water from Thippagondanahalli reservoir, the board will draw 10 mld more from this source for the next three days.
“Following the depleting water level in this reservoir, we were drawing only 30 mld till now. For the next three days we will draw 40 mld to augment the existing supply in west Bangalore. We have maintained the level at 24 feet so that we will be able to draw a little more during Ugadi festivals,” the official added.
