Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah addressed the pressing water shortage issue in Bengaluru, stating that the city currently faces a deficit of approximately 500 million litres of water per day (MLD) compared to its demand of 2,600 MLDs. He instructed officials to convene daily meetings and formulate an action plan to address the water scarcity. Siddaramaiah noted that 1,470 MLD of water is supplied from the Cauvery river, while an additional 650 MLD is extracted from borewells.
There are 14,000 borewells in Bengaluru, of which 6,900 have dried. Water bodies have been encroached or died. Bengaluru needs 2,600 MLD water. Out of this 1,470 MLD comes from Cauvery river and 650 MLD from borewells. We have a shortage of about 500 MLD, the Chief Minister told reporters after a meeting with the officials of the civic agencies and irrigation department.
Siddaramaiah is placing his faith in the forthcoming Cauvery Five project, slated to begin in June, as a crucial step towards mitigating Bengaluru's water crisis. This initiative is expected to significantly alleviate the city's water scarcity issues. Siddaramaiah highlighted that the Cauvery Five project will have the capacity to serve 110 villages, which were integrated into the Metropolitan Bengaluru Municipal Corporation during the period of 2006-07.
In an attempt to allay fears of water crisis, he said, We have enough storage of drinking water in Cauvery and Kabini, which is sufficient to last till June. There is 11.04 TMC water storage in KRS, 9.02 TMC in Kabini. The government will drill bore wells at 313 places and 1,200 inactive bore wells will be revived, he added.