Deccan Chronicle       20.12.2010

Less water in TG Halli: Water crisis continues

Bengaluru, Dec. 19: The water level at the TG Halli reservoir was supposed to be full by the end of the monsoon but not even 15% of it is full. As a result, the city will continue to deal with a water crisis until the next Monsoon in June, 2011.

The water level at the TG Halli reached 24.3 ft on Dec. 18, against its full capacity of 75 ft. Bengaluru North and West depend on the TG Halli reservoir and the water board has only been able to draw 20 million litres per day, whereas the reservoir is expected to meet the water demands of 135 mld. “The BWSSB will be able to draw only 20 MLD until the next monsoon,” said an engineer.

Though the city received, 105.2 mm of rain in June, 100.3 mm in July and 137.6 mm in August, the water level in the TG Halli had reached only 8.7 ft on Aug. 18. Since then, even though the city has received 190.3 mm of rainfall in September and 141.3 mm in October, the water level only rose to 20 ft. In November, 145.3 mm of rainfall was recorded and 2.8 mm of rain has been recorded in December so far but the water level in the TG Halli has only reached 24.3 ft.

The reservoir was supposed to be filled by September. Last year, by this time, the water had filled up to 30 ft, which is why the Northern and Western parts of the city were hit with a water crisis. In fact, the BWSSB call centre is receiving at least 30 calls related to no water supply or low pressure and less supply from areas like the Nandini Layout, the Mahalakshmi layout, Magadi Road, Okalipuram and Yeshwanthpur.

The TG Halli reservoir had filled to 33.6 ft in Nov. 2009, 43.4 ft in 2008, 32.3 ft in 2007, 50.5 ft in 2006 and 61.7 ft in 2005. In 1998, the reservoir had filled up to 71.9 ft and in 1993 the dam was filled completely.