The announcement that there will be no water in the city from June 12 has created quite a panic in the city, and private water tankers, cashing in on the situation, are charging higher rates. But the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has asked citizens not to worry, saying water services will be restored in most areas within 12 hours.
The BWSSB has announced that it will shut down all the pumps in four stages of the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme (CWSS) to connect the Cauvery Stage 4 Phase 2 facility with electricity. The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation will carry out the power installation. Since it has to be linked with the pumps of other four stages of the CWSS, water supply will be affected. “We will have to shut down the supply to carry out the work. But in most places, we will restore water supply within 12 hours. Only in some places, it could take up to 24 hours,” said T. Venkataraju, Engineer-in-Chief, BWSSB.
The pumping stations will be shutdown from 10 am on June 12 till early morning on June 13. This has created confusion among the public that the water supply would be completely shut down for three days. The severely affected areas of the city will be HAL, ITPL, parts of BEL, BTM Layout, J.P. Nagar, Bommanahalli, Mahadevepura, K.R.Puram, Yelahanka and Rajarajeshwarinagar.
The citizens have already started calling water tankers to tide over the crisis. Taking advantage of the situation, the private tankers are charging exorbitant amounts. “Private suppliers claim that they don’t have enough water. We could get one tanker after several calls. But we had to shell out Rs 750, while the normal rate is around Rs 450. They are creating artificial shortage and cashing in on it,” said Vaishalli Mahesh, a resident of Marappa Garden.
The BWSSB has cautioned the citizens against falling into the trap laid by private tankers. “They are creating an artificial shortage, and people should be patient. We will supply water till 10 am on June 12 and people can stock up,” Mr Venkataraju said. The BWSSB too has water tankers. “But we have only 42 of them. They will all be put to service. But they are just not sufficient to meet water needs of the city,” he said.