S Vishwanath, a Bengaluru-based water conservation skilled — popularly often called ‘Zenrainman’ on social media — believes that nationwide mainstream media reporting on the town’s water shortage downside has been “fully excessive” and that “everybody must calm the hell down”.
“Should you outline a disaster as a city-level one, the options might be discovered at a metropolis scale. The Authorities will say ‘We’ll construct a big dam on the Cauvery known as the Mekedatu and that can convey 3,000 million litres of water a day and clear up Bengaluru’s water downside’. However really, it’s a neighborhood downside of aquifer collapse. If we outline the issue accurately, we could have the appropriate options for the town,” says Vishwanath, talking to The Higher India.
“Incidental tales of individuals standing in a queue the place a borewell has damaged down in an RO plant or of some individual utilizing moist wipes to scrub themselves are usually not useful in any respect. Sure, real issues within the metropolis should be highlighted, however in the event you chase issues all day with 100 cameras, it’s loopy,” he provides, “This type of reporting shouldn’t be serving to anybody in any respect.”
Vishwanath — a civil engineer and concrete planner with greater than three a long time of expertise within the water and sanitation sector — has beforehand labored on the Karnataka Water Coverage in 2019. He’s additionally a Trustee of the Biome Environmental Belief, a Bengaluru-based non-profit.
So, how would he outline the present disaster?
“Primarily, it’s the failure of the state. Should you construct your piped water community to the remainder of the town, then there might be much less strain in your aquifers, and there might be no want to attract groundwater. Your borewells could have water and there might be no want for tanker water provide. Because you’ve not given piped water provide [to some parts of the city], then the answer lies in groundwater extraction. Because of this when groundwater collapses, there isn’t any different supply of water provide,” he says.
Elaborating on this level additional, he says, “There isn’t any [water] downside in about three-fourths of the town. We bought 1,470 million litres of water [per day] coming from the Cauvery [river], and there are about 1.1 million [piped water] connections overlaying 10 folks per connection. For 11 million residents of the town, this isn’t an issue. For 3 to three.5 million folks dwelling within the outskirts depending on groundwater, there are [water scarcity] issues in pockets.”
Just lately the Bangalore Water Provide and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) issued an in depth checklist marking out areas most severely impacted by water shortage.
Based on information gathered from the Karnataka Groundwater Authority by The Hindu on 29 March, “The info of groundwater ranges for final December and this January and February reveals that Bengaluru East taluk, which homes one of many main IT corridors of the town, the place the water disaster is most extreme and groundwater exploitation unbridled, has seen essentially the most dip in groundwater ranges this summer time.”
So, why are some components of the town struggling a lot with water shortage?
Vishwanath explains, “It’s the right storm. What occurred was that we have been imagined to get water from the Cauvery Part-5 mission (delivering 775 million litres a day), and that ought to have been accomplished a 12 months and a half in the past. If this mission had been accomplished, there would have been no disaster. With the completion of this mission, tens of millions of individuals in Bengaluru who don’t have a piped connection would have one with water flowing in it. However that mission bought delayed and is predicted to be accomplished in Might-June 2024.”
“Additionally, a number of the main metropolis lakes have been drained and de-silted. That mission ought to have been accomplished three years again, however this mission has been happening for 4 to 5 years. Should you desilt and drain lakes for these a few years, their capability to recharge aquifers is non-existent. That’s the place all of the borewells have dried up,” he provides.
In components of the town, nevertheless, the groundwater desk is excessive, in line with Vishwanath.
“For instance, in Cubbon Park, the open recharge wells have enough water. Among the lakes, that are filled with water, are good for percolation. In these areas, the borewells are at a depth of 150 to 300 ft. The place there isn’t any piped water provide, the groundwater desk may be very low. If the Cauvery Part-5 mission is accomplished, the issue of water shortage within the metropolis will go away to a big extent. If the lakes are crammed with rainwater or tertiary handled wastewater, then the aquifers might be recharged and the issue will develop into quite a bit much less,” he says.
As Vishwanath famous earlier, there are actual issues that should be solved to deal with water shortage within the metropolis. On this article, we are going to spotlight these issues and the way we are able to clear up them.
Reviving lakes, replenishing groundwater
Whether or not it’s Chennai, Bengaluru, or Hyderabad, earlier than piped water connections, motorised pumps or electrical energy might come into play, residents have been depending on floor water.
Now, on account of rampant urbanisation within the metropolis, lakes have develop into nothing however leisure and aesthetically interesting water-holding buildings the place the hydrology or science behind that water physique is usually forgotten. In lots of circumstances, it additionally occurs that all year long Bengaluru’s lakes maintain sewage, and don’t have house for freshwater anymore. So, when rainfall occurs, these lakes are crammed with sewage to the brim and are usually not capable of take in that water.
“All this impacts the lake system, and thereby the groundwater. We’re one of the intense borewelling communities on the planet. Nowhere else will you see so many borewells being dug in all places, which technically depletes all of the groundwater reserves,” says Arun Krishnamurthy of the Environmentalist Basis of India (EFI), which revives water our bodies.
“With groundwater reserves depleted and lakes holding sewage, which additionally means there isn’t any house for freshwater from the monsoon rains to circulate into — all these components put collectively are inflicting this type of drought. Bengaluru isn’t the primary although provided that Chennai went by one thing related in 2018-19. Any city pocket in India is sure to be affected by such a state of affairs provided that we don’t have a transparent understanding of floor water our bodies,” he provides.
So, how do you go about revving these water our bodies and bettering the groundwater degree?
Arun speaks of Devanahalli Kere, the primary lake EFI took up in Bengaluru for revival in 2022. As an organisation, they’ve largely focussed on suburban Bengaluru relatively than the primary metropolis space. It is because the suburban lakes have been heading on the present path of the town lakes.
“To forestall any sort of contamination or encroachment, we’ve got taken up water our bodies in Ramanagara, Tumkur, and Bengaluru (Rural) districts, and the closest such lake to the primary metropolis is the Devanahalli Lake. Inside Karahalli, which is subsequent to Devanahalli, we’ve got revived at the very least 5 water our bodies. What we’ve got achieved is deepening these water our bodies to extend storage capability, regulating their inlet and outlet channels so that there’s a free circulate of water, and we’ve got additionally ensured recharge wells have been created in all these programs,” explains Arun.
“Constructing these recharge wells is all about making certain there’s sufficient groundwater percolation. Making a water holding construction based mostly on the soil construction, understanding its utilisation worth to the area, and creating percolation trenches and recharge wells have all been our key focus — whether or not it’s in Devanahalli, Karahalli, the Baddihalli Lake in Tumkur metropolis, or the Hulikunte lake. EFI has restored all these water our bodies with this bigger level in thoughts,” he provides.
And the impression of all these initiatives on the communities who reside close to these lakes has been seen. “Their borewells are usually not as dry as what we hear from different components of the town. These lakes, which have been typically used as dumping websites, are actually not perceived as such. Folks wish to shield them. When droughts happen, folks realise and perceive the importance of those lakes higher and so they volunteer with us to keep up and maintenance them,” he claims.
What goes into the upkeep and maintenance of those water our bodies consists of the prevention of encroachment, dumping of rubbish, and sewage coming into that lake, and keeping track of the water physique basically to keep up its high quality and space.
However it’s additionally necessary to make sure that the canals interlinking these lakes are properly maintained. As Arun notes, “Interlinking of water our bodies at an NGO degree is inconceivable just because between two lakes, the canal system that exists will largely fall below Authorities land or personal land. We are able to suggest Authorities companies to replace these canal programs.”
“Our suggestions to the Authorities may even embody correctly mapping these water our bodies, watershed wetlands, and stopping encroachment the place crucial and specializing in the structural integrity of freshwater programs. We desperately want the latter in the present day. However we is not going to be ready to revive these interlinking areas fully just because we don’t have the bandwidth to speak to all of the landowners and take away encroachment or extra. What is feasible on our degree, nevertheless, is inlet-outlet regulation inside the lake’s periphery,” he provides.
Are lakes in the primary metropolis past redemption?
“They don’t seem to be past redemption if there’s a robust political will, heavy scientific backing, and full group understanding of the issue. Even when considered one of these components is lacking, these lakes can’t be saved,” he says.
Recharge wells over borewells
Moreover lakes, one other key aspect in elevating the groundwater degree and establishing a surplus water provide is open recharge wells. An open [recharge] properly is just a gap within the floor that enables entry to water underground. These wells are used to extract water from the shallowest degree — sometimes present in unconfined shallow aquifers the place water is held with none strain. These aquifers obtain water when rain or different floor water percolates down into it — a course of often called recharge.
Talking to The Higher India, Vishwanath says, “As we converse, properly diggers working with BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), as a part of the shallow aquifer administration mission of the Authorities of India, lately cleaned up a properly in a selected locality very near my home known as Nandini Format. That [open recharge] properly in the present day provides one lakh litres of water [a day] and helps 500-700 resident households for non-potable use.”
“Within the north of the town, we at Biome Environmental Belief, with the assistance of a CSR initiative, cleaned up six wells, and in two of them, the ladies within the space instructed us to not set up a motor. They wished to attract the water manually. At present 50 to 70 households within the space can draw water from the properly. In two different wells, the city municipal council have put in pumps, and to this point, they’ve bought 70 million litres of water for his or her city municipal space,” he provides.
Vishwanath goes on to elaborate on different such tasks his belief has launched into.
As he claims, “Within the Devanahalli township, the place the worldwide airport is situated, we’ve been capable of work with a number of NGOs and companions who cleaned up a lake, which is now crammed with rainwater and well-treated wastewater from Bengaluru. This water filters into the earth and there’s an previous open properly we’ve got revived. That properly provides 2.5 lakh litres of water a day to which we’ve got connected a water therapy plant and are supplying that water to the city of Devanahalli. We’ve got additionally constructed filter borewells, that are shallow borewells which go 80 to 100 ft deep, and so they have a porous casing and performance like open recharge wells.”
“Wherever we do good [open] recharge [wells] and lakes are revived, it’s the shallow aquifer which comes again to life,” he provides.
Vishwanath believes that each constructing in Bengaluru will be a part of the answer. “Take all of the rainwater you may, retailer it in a sump tank and reuse it. When you’ve got extra rainwater, please be sure that this goes into recharge wells in order that the shallow aquifer is full and you then dip into it in occasions of want. That’s the general objective of our ‘One Million Wells for Bengaluru’ initiative.”
So, why weren’t these options put in place in components of the town that don’t have piped connections and are in the present day struggling for water?
“It is because we don’t have a groundwater administration plan. We don’t have a groundwater authority which integrates groundwater into our ingesting water wants. We simply have somebody who permits us to drill borewells. We don’t understand how a lot groundwater exists under our ft, the place are the recharge zones, the place we retain them, how a lot water are we drawing from every sub-aquifer, and the way we draw a stability between demand and provide. Within the absence of a groundwater cell within the BWSSB or the absence of a groundwater plan or an aquifer administration plan, what occurs is everyone seems to be tapping into the aquifer,” explains Vishwanath.
What we’re seeing in the present day in Bengaluru is aggressive drilling. In components of the town, folks have dug borewells as deep as 1,800 ft.
“All people is taking water out. No one is placing water again in. Except we create the appropriate kind of establishment, which is accountable for groundwater and manages it as a typical pool useful resource for all residents, that is what is going to occur and is occurring. The issue is institutional and lies in governance or lack thereof,” provides Vishwanath.
If groundwater ranges are the issue within the periphery of the primary metropolis, Vishwanath advocates the necessity to transfer from aggressive drilling to cooperative filling.
“As soon as it’s cooperative filling, we have to fill the lakes and make recharge wells in order that when the rains come, the water flows into the aquifer. That’s the resolution. Presently, we’ve got wonderful tertiary handled water in a few of our wastewater therapy vegetation like in Jakkur, Cubbon Park, and many others the place you may drink the water from the sewage therapy vegetation (STPs),” he says.
“We have to take this water and fill our lakes shortly, which are actually dry, in order that the aquifer will get recharged. We should always begin getting ready to scrub up our rainwater harvesting programs and ensure new recharge wells are dug in order that when the summer time rains come, these drops of water are pushed into the aquifer. If that is performed, we are able to overcome the issue within the quick run,” he provides.
Harvesting rainwater
The ‘One Million Wells for Bengaluru’ initiative was conceived and facilitated by Biome Environmental Belief to unravel the town’s water disaster someday in 2005. The motion’s fundamental goal has been to allow households throughout the town to adapt to the legislation mandating rainwater harvesting. And this additionally consists of “a recharge properly” possibility.
Being on the helm of assorted tasks like ‘One Million Wells for Bengaluru’ and different rainwater harvesting initiatives, we requested Vishwanath to clarify their impression on the town.
“For instance, the Rail Wheel Manufacturing unit in Yelahanka, the place they’ve performed good rainwater harvesting, their open recharge wells are giving them two lakh litres of water a day. At IIM Bangalore, the place rainwater harvesting has been performed, their borewells are giving them water at 300 to 400 ft, and so they’re getting sufficient water,” claims Vishwanath.
“Wherever rainwater harvesting is completed properly and in concentrated quantities, there was no downside. Their aquifers are full and have water regardless of this 12 months’s drought. Even in Cubbon Park, the place folks and organisations have performed rainwater harvesting like Pals of Lakes, there’s water in open recharge wells. Rainwater harvesting can ship in X quantity of water however your withdrawal ought to be lower than X. In case your draw is 2X, then even this gained’t assist,” he provides.
Having mentioned that, there are extra issues in regards to the rainwater harvesting (RWH) infrastructure within the metropolis. It’s necessary to notice that the BWSSB Modification Act, 2011, made RWH necessary for all properties on plots measuring 60×40 sq ft and above, and new properties developing on 30×40 sq ft websites. In 2015, penalties have been launched for properties that didn’t comply.
In a 7 December 2023 report for Citizen Issues, a Bengaluru-based media publication, reporter Navya PK writes, “…the town at the moment has 10.8 lakh properties with water connections, however only one.9 lakh (practically 18%) of them have carried out RWH.”
“One other 39,703 properties have been recognized for non-implementation and are paying penalties each month. These properties embody particular person houses, flats (every house is counted as a single connection), and business properties,” she provides.
In different phrases, compliance is a critical difficulty although putting in a RWH system is neither very difficult nor cost-intensive. Vishwanath notes that residents ought to construct strong RWH programs in order that they don’t should face quality-related issues down the road.
He believes that there are sufficient high quality supplies and competent plumbers current available in the market. A person residence can set up a RWH system for as little as Rs 5,000. Even in the event you insist on utilizing a high-quality filter, it may be performed inside Rs 15,000, supplied you don’t should construct a brand new sump, he argues. And the advantages of this technique are actual.
“In our residence, we’ve got rainwater harvesting programs which are working optimally. Although the final rains within the metropolis have been in November, our 1,000-litre rain barrel nonetheless has sufficient water for our ingesting and cooking wants until June,” provides Vishwanath.
On the query of compliance, in line with a Bangalore Mirror report by Sridhar Vivan on 9 January 2024, “A staggering Rs 21.24 crore was collected as penalties for non-compliance with rainwater harvesting laws till November-end final 12 months.”
For non-implementation of RWH in residential properties, fines begin from 25% of their water invoice for the primary three months, and 50% afterwards. For non-residential properties, it’s 50% and 100% of the water invoice respectively.
Vishwanath argues that it’s powerful to anticipate 100% compliance and argues that penalising residents is probably not the best way ahead. As a substitute, he recommends that folks ought to wish to arrange a RWH system of their houses after a means of schooling and communication. And the advantages of putting in such a system in every Bengaluru residence can be immense.
A Bengaluru Water Datajam organised final month by Open Metropolis, a civic tech mission, discovered that based mostly on rainfall information from 2022, “456 Million Litres per Day(MLD) might have been harvested in Bengaluru from the rooftops, which is 25% of the water demand of the town – 1890 MLD.”
Is dipping into wastewater the best way ahead?
Rashmi Kulranjan and Shashank Palur, who’re hydrologists at WELL LABS, wrote a column for The Hindu on 24 March 2024 the place they recognized an answer to the town’s water woes.
“Rainwater harvesting might make a dent on the freshwater wants of the town however it pales compared to wastewater. Presently, solely one-third of the town’s wastewater is redirected for exterior reuse, which implies it’s taken to Kolar, Chikkaballapur, and Devenahalli, the place it’s used to replenish each groundwater and floor water sources,” they wrote.
“The remaining water flows into lakes and runs off land to affix rivers downstream. This implies the large quantum of wastewater generated within the metropolis is an untapped useful resource. As soon as handled to the required high quality, wastewater can considerably mitigate freshwater consumption and will be essential in making the town water resilient throughout low rainfall years,” they added.
It’s a sentiment that Vikas Brahmavar, founding father of Boson Whitewater, a Bengaluru-based water utility startup, shares. Talking to The Higher India, he says, “We should always not have a metropolis operating on the hope of fine rains. In any case, if there are not any rains until June, it will likely be a stress even on the municipal provide. We should always have a metropolis operating on the hope of the wastewater flowing out and make use of freshwater provide as a buffer for our on a regular basis wants.”
“In any metropolis in India, when authorities plan water distribution, they by no means have a look at what goes out of the town. Should you have a look at developed cities like Singapore, the planning shouldn’t be based mostly on freshwater accessible in dams however based mostly on the predictable wastewater which goes out of the town, as a result of that may be estimated clearly based mostly on the inhabitants,” says Vikas.
“If the inhabitants of a given metropolis is thought, authorities in locations like Singapore know precisely the quantity of wastewater which goes out. From the quantity wastewater estimated, authorities can then gauge which industries will be lined by that handled wastewater,” he provides.
By way of coverage, their start line is wastewater, which addresses sanitation in addition to industrial water necessities, after which they have a look at the freshwater accessible from dams or different sources.
“This large mindset change has to return. Any creating nation ought to have this mindset of wastewater first earlier than freshwater choices,” notes Vikas.
The Boson Whitewater system converts handled wastewater into “high-quality potable water”. The setup has superior an IoT (Web of Issues), AI (synthetic intelligence) and machine studying (ML) enabled 11-step filtration system to cut back bodily, chemical and organic contaminants current in STP-treated wastewater. Presently, they work with industries, IT parks, malls, and house communities in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and recycle their wastewater.
On the finish of their 11-step filtration course of, he claims that the water doesn’t have any contaminants. “E coli, coliforms, heavy metals, excessive hardness, pesticides, and herbicides are all eliminated, and the water is crystal clear and potable. Nationwide Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) licensed lab experiences point out the water is drinkable,” he provides.
Primarily, Boson is concentrated on this monumental quantity of water which goes out of houses, flats, and places of work as handled wastewater.
“As per our estimation, a 300-unit house will generate about 1,50,000 litres of wastewater a day. The identical constructing complicated could have a sewage therapy plant however solely 20% (about 30,000 litres) of the handled water that comes out from this facility might be used. In different phrases, multiple lakh litres of handled wastewater results in the drain,” he says.
“Our system can take this one lakh litre of handled wastewater and produce potable-quality water from it in order that the neighbouring houses or industrial amenities don’t have to take advantage of borewell water and as an alternative purchase our potable-quality water for no matter they need,” he provides.
Boson Whitewater is at the moment collaborating with the Bangalore Water Provide and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) on a separate mission to deal with the town’s water shortage downside. However their prime focus has been the restoration of handled recycled water and promoting it.
“Wastewater will at all times be there whether or not there’s rainfall or not. Since we’re recovering high-quality water from wastewater, our shoppers haven’t been adversely affected as a result of they’ve an everyday provide which is assured by us on a contractual foundation. A few of our shoppers on uncommon events name in a tanker however for essentially the most half, we’re capable of recuperate the wastewater which is obtainable to the utmost extent and provide that to them,” he says.
(In Half 2, we are going to have a look at what residents of Bengaluru can do to mitigate water shortage within the metropolis.)
(Edited by Pranita Bhat)
(Photographs courtesy Shutterstock/PQN Studios/Joe Ravi/WESTOCK PRODUCTIONS/MudaCom, S Vishwanath & The Higher India)