In a rare move, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has announced a 20% cut in water being supplied to bulk users in the city in a phased manner by April 15. The move comes amidst a severe drinking water crisis in the city.
BWSSB defines a bulk user as someone who consumes more than 2 crore litres of water a month and there are 38 such bulk users in the city. These include defence establishments, Railways, HAL, NIMHANS, Victoria Hospital, Bangalore University, and many private companies.
Many of these institutions take one bulk connection and supply water to residents of colonies and quarters inside their campuses.
BWSSB Chairman V. Ramprasath Manohar held a meeting with representatives of these institutions on Tuesday and announced the decision.
“These 38 bulk users in total today use 1,765 million litres of water every month, which works up to around 58 million litres per day (MLD). A 20% cut would save us over 10 MLD of water every day, which is significant,” Mr. Ramprasath Manohar said.
Hospitals exempted
He told The Hindu that they have, however, decided to exempt hospitals like Victoria Hospital, NIMHANS, and Command Hospital from this rationing. “For others, we will start gradually cutting the quantum of water supply, and by April 15, in one month’s time, we will have cut it by 20%. We have appealed to these establishments to encourage judicious use of water within their premises,” he said.
