The city generates around 3,550 million litres of sewage every day, of which only 1,800 million litres is treated. This has resulted in pollution of 17 river stretches, according to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).
Speaking at the first of a nine-part webinar series, titled ‘Bengaluru’s Climate Action Plan: Making it participatory and inclusive’, by the Environment Support Group, which was launched on Monday on the occasion of World Water Day, Srinivasulu, member secretary, KSPCB, said it is high time to increase the sewage treating capacity since treated water is a resource that can bring about several positive changes.
He mentioned that though the air quality had improved marginally, the city still has a long way to go. Bengaluru, he said, has the highest density of air quality monitors compared to other cities in the country.
B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), pointed out that unless public transportation becomes a ‘culture’, the vehicle population in the city would continue to increase. The city had 93 lakh registered vehicles. He pointed out that poor road engineering was one of the main contributors to congestions and traffic jams; however, this could be sorted out by solving minor issues and micro management.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Administrator Gaurav Gupta stressed on the need for proactive urban transport planning. Environmental sustainability and development were important issues for cities, such as Bengaluru, he said and added that the recently launched Bengaluru Mission 2022 had laid a road map for the same.
Jayanagar MLA Sowmya Reddy pointed out that several natural disasters were linked to climate change and remarked that there was a need to work on an updated action plan on climate change for Karnataka.
Earlier, Leo Saldanha from ESG said that the objective of the webinar series was to construct an assemblage of visions for the city and how the metropolis can survive with its limited resources for the benefit of future generations, in the light of the BBMP’s commitment to take action under the Paris Climate Agreement.
