The Hindu      04.01.2011

BWSSB will sweat it out

Bangaloreans, especially residents of newly added areas, can look forward to get better drinking water supply and sanitation this year.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which claims that it is struggling to meet the growing demand for water in the city with the available 900 million litres of water per day (MLD), hopes to commission the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme's (CWSS) Stage IV Phase II by the end of this year or early 2012.

The Rs. 3,384-crore project could yield an additional 500 MLD. “This additional water will be mainly supplied to the new areas,” said BWSSB Chairperson P.B. Ramamurthy.

The board will take up an Integrated Leakage Reduction (ILR) project covering 52 sq km of Bangalore South Zone. Funded by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), the project will cover about one lakh water connections.

Mr. Ramamurthy said about 140 km of pipelines will be surveyed, replaced or strengthened, and service pipelines to one lakh connections will be surveyed to monitor and rectify leakage. Faulty water meters will be replaced, given that each has a life of only about seven years. The BWSSB reckons that 50,000 water meters require replacement.

The board plans to provide underground drainage in newly added areas to BBMP at a cost of Rs. 1,300 crore.

Its other goals include a scheme for zero discharge of wastewater into the Hebbal valley at a cost of Rs. 35 crore; construction of 10 ground level reservoirs at various places at a cost of Rs. 46 crore and construction of six reservoirs at a cost of Rs. 140 crore for the supply of the additional 500 mld drawn from CWSS's 4th stage 2nd phase scheme. The board is also setting up a rainwater harvesting theme park in Jayanagar at a cost of Rs. 3 crore.