Deccan Chronicle 19.02.2010
Scarcity may cause water pollution
February 18: The situation is bleak as far as the people are concerned. Not only are they are having to do without power for most of the day, but water too is in short supply, throwing up the risk of contamination and diseases in many parts of the city.
With the storage level in the Thippagondanahalli reservoir falling by the day, the northern and western parts of Bengaluru are already facing a water shortage, although summer has still not fully set in. The reservoir which can hold up to 74 ft of water, filled up only to 31 ft in November 2009 due to poor rainfall. Its level now stands at 22 ft, when it was 35 ft this time last year.
It is feared that the erratic power could hit the pumping stations which are 120 km away from the city, affecting the city’s water supply even more. Not only could this lead to more demand for water tankers, but also tell on people’s pockets as they come for not less than Rs 700 to Rs 800 a load.
“Scarcity of water leads to storage of water for longer periods, which can lead to its contamination and diseases like gastroenteritis, cholera, typhoid and hepatitis,” says BBMP deputy health officer, in charge of communicable diseases Dr Manoranjan Hegde. The city is no stranger to such outbreaks, particularly during summer. The Isolation Hospital says there were 3,145 cases of gastroenteritis and 34 of cholera in the city last year and at least eight deaths. While BBMP places the figures much lower, claiming the city had 1,844 cases of gastroenteritis and 16 of cholera in 2009, and denies there have been any deaths due to cholera in the last two years, it still prefers not to take any chances.
BBMP chief health officer Dr L. T. Gayathri has directed a team to visit hotels and cafeterias to check them for hygiene and close them down if they don’t measure up to standards. The civic agency is insisting that hotels serve boiled water to customers and is also testing water in taps and mini overhead tanks to see that it is free of contamination. Halogen tablets are being distributed to all households for use in their drinking water.
As an added precaution the BBMP has issued a circular to health officers to evict roadside vendors selling cut fruit. Tanker water is also being checked to ensure that it is fit for drinking. Ravi Suriya, a water tanker contractor, however, says only treated borewell water is supplied in ESI coated tanks to homes and hotels around the city. BWSSB chief executive engineer T. Venkataraju says the board is doing its best to make sure that the city doesn’t go without water this summer. “We have appealed to KPTCL and Bescom to make sure that pumping stations are not hampered by erratic power supply. Also, we have 40 tankers of our own to supply water during a crisis,” he adds.
