Parched Bengaluru will not get relief any time soon with further delays in the new phase of Cauvery river water project. The Cauvery Water Supply Scheme Stage IV Phase II will augment supplies to the city by 500 million litres per day , taking the total supply of Cauvery water to 1,450 MLD. “This phase of the project will start supplying water to Bengaluru in July-end. We are trying hard to complete it as soon as possible,” BWSSB Minister S. Suresh Kumar said on Saturday.
The earlier deadline for the project was March. After that, Mr Kumar announced on the floor of the Assembly that it would be commissioned by June. The project hit the snail’s pace because of delays in executing works on the pump house and water treatment plants. Shortage of labourers and sand after a strike by sand lorry owners last year further added to the delays. Right of way issues to lay pipelines through properties of the railways, HMT and other agencies and problems with traffic diversion, especially on Outer Ring Road, affected the project’s speed.
“Pipe laying work is going on smoothly and 97 per cent of it has been completed. Of the 172 km, around 165 km of pipeline has been laid. But works on the pump house and water treatment plants is slow. The 500 MLD water treatment plant at TK Halli is less than 80% complete,” a BWSSB official told Deccan Chronicle.
Work picked up some pace after Minister Suresh Kumar expressed his disappointment at the speed of works during his inspection and set April 30 as deadline. BWSSB officials had hoped that tests and trials could start after completing the project in May, but with the delay, the tests will be rescheduled now. “After the tests, we wanted to commission the project partially by supplying 200 MLD out of the projected 500 in June. Now, it does not look like the tests would start before June,” the official said.