India’s IT hub Bengaluru has been facing severe water crisis for some time now. Here are the major factors:
Decreasing water level (Mabadi Ba/Water Resources)
The lakes and reservoirs of Bengaluru are drying up due to many reasons. Due to unplanned urbanization the natural places for water storage have diminished. Decreased rainfall and climate change are also contributing factors.
Demand and supply gap
The population of the city is increasing rapidly and the demand for water is increasing continuously. However, the fresh water supply is not intact. This gap between demand and supply is a major cause of crisis.
Reduction in rainfall due to climate change means less water to refill lakes and groundwater. This makes the city even more dependent on already stressed resources.
Leaking pipes and inefficient water management practices further compound the problem.
A large amount of waste water is generated every day in Bengaluru. While some advocate treating this wastewater for reuse, public resistance and the social stigma surrounding it pose a challenge.
Cauvery water dispute
Unfortunately, Bengaluru’s water crisis is entangled in its long-running dispute with neighboring state Tamil Nadu over sharing of Cauvery ( Kaveri ) river water.
The Cauvery water dispute is a contentious issue between the two states and tensions may rise when the CWMA (Cauvery Water Management Authority) orders Tamil Nadu to release the water. This could lead to protests by farmers and Kannada organizations in Bengaluru over concerns over scarce water resources within Karnataka.
The Cauvery river flows through both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The Supreme Court has issued rulings on how much water each state gets, but these can be contested.
The water issue becomes politicized, with political parties sometimes using it to expand their base.
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