Tank up: No water in city today
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The BWSSB's announced shutdown of water supply is to start from Tuesday, but the city is already facing water shortages with many areas receiving little or no supply over the weekend and on Monday.
The BWSSB, though, insists that the water supply was normal over the weekend. “People are anxious about the announced irregularity in water supply on Tuesday and have just panicked over minor irregularities over the weekend and on Monday. The shutdown of pumping stations will start only from Tuesday and the current supply is normal,” said Narayan, chief engineer (Kaveri), BWSSB.
After there were protests at a three-day shutdown, the BWSSB has planned a phase-wise shutdown of pumping stations in all stages (I to IV) of the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme (CWSS) on Tuesday. The longest shutdown will be of 18 hours in CWSS Stage IV Phase I. The ripple effect of this shutdown will be felt for the next three or four days. A senior official of BWSSB explained why.
“Once a pumping station is shut down for some time, there is depletion in water levels. The water level in ground level reservoirs (GLR) across the city (that store water pumped from stations before it is supplied to various areas) will see a dip. An hour’s shutdown at the pumping station will require at least three hours for GLRs to regain the water levels. The planned shutdown of 6- 12 hours on Tuesday will affect water supply for at least three days. It will take time - at least till Friday – for supply to be normal,” he said.
The pumping stations are being shut to facilitate work on the CWSS. The BWSSB requires the shutdown to take additional water for CWSS Stage IV Phase I and to get power connection for CWSS Stage IV Phase II. The project is nearing completion and is expected to be partially commissioned by July-end. Tests on CWSS Stage IV Phase II are slated to start in June-end. Once fully commissioned, the project will supply 500 million litres of water to the city.
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