The Legislature Committee which is looking into encroachments of lakebeds in Bengaluru will go beyond the issue by suggesting comprehensive methods of protecting surface water resources to help meet the drinking water requirements of the fast-growing city.
Addressing reporters after a meeting of the Committee, former chief minister H. D. Kumaraswamy pointed out that as per the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal’s final award, only one-third of Bengaluru’s drinking water requirement, amounting to 8.5 tmc, could be met from the Cauvery.
But presently the City was using nearly 18 tmc of Cauvery water, he said.
There was a need to reduce the use of Cauvery water and instead focus on tapping surface water to meet the two-thirds of the drinking water requirement of the City to ensure that the city did not suffer from water shortage when the Tribunal award was strictly enforced, he observed. In this context, there was a dire need to protect the city’s water bodies and their catchment areas as “future life in the city will depend on the efficient use as well as protection of surface water,” he said.
In the Monday’s meeting, the Committee had tried to fix specific responsibilities towards protection of lakes for different civic agencies and authorities in the City such as BWSSB and KSPCB, he said.
Meanwhile, trying to downplay the demolition of illegal structures, Committee Chairman K. B. Koliwad said: “What can the committee do if the deputy commissioner goes ahead with demolition?”
