Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF), which represents around 450 apartment complexes, has called upon the State government to “declare a water emergency”, by incentivising low water usage and penalising those who use excess water.
In a press release and an online petition, the federation, which claims to represent 2.5 lakh people, has suggested a series of “simple” measures to be undertaken by the government.
The steps include registration and metering of borewells, and for every household to file monthly “water returns” to ascertain per capita consumption of water in households. They also asked for changing the tariffs on Cauvery water usage, with connection using less than 6 kilolitres paying ₹5 per kl (currently, it is ₹7), while those consuming more than 12 kilolitres will be charged ₹100 per kl (currently, it is ₹45).
“If we were to harvest even 30% of the 3,000 MLD rainwater that falls in Bengaluru, we have another 1,000 MLD available ... Hence, the crisis is not one of water availability but one of water management,” said Srikanth Narasimhan, general secretary of the BAF.
