Deccan Chronicle 20.12.2010
Less water in TG Halli: Water crisis continues
December 20th, 2010
DC Correspondent
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.
