S Vishwanath, a Bengaluru-based water conservation skilled — popularly often known as ‘Zenrainman’ on social media — believes that nationwide mainstream media reporting on town’s water shortage downside has been “fully excessive” and that “everybody must calm the hell down”.

“In case you outline a disaster as a city-level one, the options will likely be discovered at a metropolis scale. The Authorities will say ‘We’ll construct a big dam on the Cauvery referred to as the Mekedatu and that may carry 3,000 million litres of water a day and remedy Bengaluru’s water downside’. However really, it’s a neighborhood downside of aquifer collapse. If we outline the issue accurately, we could have the appropriate options for town,” says Vishwanath, talking to The Higher India.

“Incidental tales of individuals standing in a queue the place a borewell has damaged down in an RO plant or of some individual utilizing moist wipes to scrub themselves will not be useful in any respect. Sure, real issues within the metropolis must be highlighted, however should you chase issues all day with 100 cameras, it’s loopy,” he provides, “This sort of reporting just isn’t serving to anybody in any respect.”

Vishwanath — a civil engineer and concrete planner with greater than three a long time of expertise within the water and sanitation sector — has beforehand labored on the Karnataka Water Coverage in 2019. He’s additionally a Trustee of the Biome Environmental Belief, a Bengaluru-based non-profit.

So, how would he outline the present disaster?

“Primarily, it’s the failure of the state. In case you construct your piped water community to the remainder of town, then there will likely be much less stress in your aquifers, and there will likely be no want to attract groundwater. Your borewells could have water and there will likely be no want for tanker water provide. Because you’ve not given piped water provide [to some parts of the city], then the answer lies in groundwater extraction. Which means when groundwater collapses, there isn’t any different supply of water provide,” he says.

Elaborating on this level additional, he says, “There is no such thing as a [water] downside in about three-fourths of town. We acquired 1,470 million litres of water [per day] coming from the Cauvery [river], and there are about 1.1 million [piped water] connections protecting 10 individuals per connection. For 11 million residents of town, this isn’t an issue. For 3 to three.5 million individuals residing within the outskirts depending on groundwater, there are [water scarcity] issues in pockets.”

Not too long ago the Bangalore Water Provide and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) issued an in depth checklist marking out areas most severely impacted by water shortage.

In accordance with knowledge gathered from the Karnataka Groundwater Authority by The Hindu on 29 March, “The information of groundwater ranges for final December and this January and February reveals that Bengaluru East taluk, which homes one of many main IT corridors of town, the place the water disaster is most extreme and groundwater exploitation unbridled, has seen probably the most dip in groundwater ranges this summer season.”

So, why are some elements of town struggling a lot with water shortage?

Vishwanath explains, “It’s the right storm. What occurred was that we had been speculated to get water from the Cauvery Section-5 undertaking (delivering 775 million litres a day), and that ought to have been accomplished a 12 months and a half in the past. If this undertaking had been accomplished, there would have been no disaster. With the completion of this undertaking, hundreds of thousands of individuals in Bengaluru who don’t have a piped connection would have one with water flowing in it. However that undertaking acquired delayed and is predicted to be accomplished in Could-June 2024.”

“Additionally, a few of the main metropolis lakes have been drained and de-silted. That undertaking ought to have been accomplished three years again, however this undertaking has been happening for 4 to 5 years. In case you desilt and drain lakes for these a few years, their capability to recharge aquifers is non-existent. That’s the place all of the borewells have dried up,” he provides.

In elements of town, nevertheless, the groundwater desk is excessive, based on Vishwanath.

“For instance, in Cubbon Park, the open recharge wells have enough water. Among the lakes, that are stuffed with water, are good for percolation. In these areas, the borewells are at a depth of 150 to 300 ft. The place there isn’t any piped water provide, the groundwater desk could be very low. If the Cauvery Section-5 undertaking is accomplished, the issue of water shortage within the metropolis will go away to a big extent. If the lakes are full of rainwater or tertiary handled wastewater, then the aquifers will likely be recharged and the issue will develop into lots much less,” he says.

As Vishwanath famous earlier, there are actual issues that must be solved to handle water shortage within the metropolis. On this article, we are going to spotlight these issues and the way we will remedy them.

Reviving lakes, replenishing groundwater

Whether or not it’s Chennai, Bengaluru, or Hyderabad, earlier than piped water connections, motorised pumps or electrical energy may come into play, residents had been depending on floor water.

Now, on account of rampant urbanisation within the metropolis, lakes have develop into nothing however leisure and aesthetically interesting water-holding buildings the place the hydrology or science behind that water physique is usually forgotten. In lots of instances, it additionally occurs that all year long Bengaluru’s lakes maintain sewage, and don’t have house for freshwater anymore. So, when rainfall occurs, these lakes are full of sewage to the brim and will not be capable of take up that water.

“All this impacts the lake system, and thereby the groundwater. We’re one of the crucial intense borewelling communities on the earth. Nowhere else will you see so many borewells being dug in all places, which technically depletes all of the groundwater reserves,” says Arun Krishnamurthy of the Environmentalist Basis of India (EFI), which revives water our bodies.

“With groundwater reserves depleted and lakes holding sewage, which additionally means there isn’t any house for freshwater from the monsoon rains to stream into — all these components put collectively are inflicting this sort of drought. Bengaluru isn’t the primary although provided that Chennai went via one thing comparable in 2018-19. Any city pocket in India is sure to be affected by such a state of affairs provided that we don’t have a transparent understanding of floor water our bodies,” he provides.

So, how do you go about revving these water our bodies and enhancing the groundwater stage?

Arun speaks of Devanahalli Kere, the primary lake EFI took up in Bengaluru for revival in 2022. As an organisation, they’ve largely focussed on suburban Bengaluru fairly than the primary metropolis space. It’s because the suburban lakes had been heading on the present path of town lakes.

“To stop any type of contamination or encroachment, we now have taken up water our bodies in Ramanagara, Tumkur, and Bengaluru (Rural) districts, and the closest such lake to the primary metropolis is the Devanahalli Lake. Inside Karahalli, which is subsequent to Devanahalli, we now have revived no less than 5 water our bodies. What we now have achieved is deepening these water our bodies to extend storage capability, regulating their inlet and outlet channels so that there’s a free stream of water, and we now have additionally ensured recharge wells have been created in all these methods,” explains Arun.

“Constructing these recharge wells is all about making certain there’s sufficient groundwater percolation. Making a water holding construction based mostly on the soil construction, understanding its utilisation worth to the area, and creating percolation trenches and recharge wells have all been our key focus — whether or not it’s in Devanahalli, Karahalli, the Baddihalli Lake in Tumkur metropolis, or the Hulikunte lake. EFI has restored all these water our bodies with this bigger level in thoughts,” he provides.

And the impression of all these initiatives on the communities who reside close to these lakes has been seen. “Their borewells will not be as dry as what we hear from different elements of town. These lakes, which had been usually used as dumping websites, at the moment are not perceived as such. Individuals need to shield them. When droughts happen, individuals realise and perceive the importance of those lakes higher they usually volunteer with us to take care of and maintenance them,” he claims.

What goes into the upkeep and maintenance of those water our bodies contains the prevention of encroachment, dumping of rubbish, and sewage coming into that lake, and keeping track of the water physique on the whole to take care of its high quality and space.

However it’s additionally necessary to make sure that the canals interlinking these lakes are effectively maintained. As Arun notes, “Interlinking of water our bodies at an NGO stage is inconceivable just because between two lakes, the canal system that exists will largely fall beneath Authorities land or personal land. We will advocate Authorities companies to replace these canal methods.”

“Our suggestions to the Authorities will even embrace correctly mapping these water our bodies, watershed wetlands, and stopping encroachment the place crucial and specializing in the structural integrity of freshwater methods. We desperately want the latter at present. However we is not going to be able to revive these interlinking areas fully just because we don’t have the bandwidth to speak to all of the landowners and take away encroachment or extra. What is feasible on our stage, nevertheless, is inlet-outlet regulation inside the lake’s periphery,” he provides.

Are lakes in the primary metropolis past redemption?

“They aren’t past redemption if there’s a robust political will, heavy scientific backing, and full group understanding of the issue. Even when one in every of these parts is lacking, these lakes can’t be saved,” he says.

Recharge wells over borewells

In addition to lakes, one other key aspect in elevating the groundwater stage and establishing a surplus water provide is open recharge wells. An open [recharge] effectively is just a gap within the floor that permits entry to water underground. These wells are used to extract water from the shallowest stage — usually present in unconfined shallow aquifers the place water is held with none stress. These aquifers obtain water when rain or different floor water percolates down into it — a course of often known as recharge.

Talking to The Higher India, Vishwanath says, “As we communicate, effectively diggers working with BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), as a part of the shallow aquifer administration undertaking of the Authorities of India, just lately cleaned up a effectively in a selected locality very near my home referred to as Nandini Format. That [open recharge] effectively at present offers one lakh litres of water [a day] and helps 500-700 resident households for non-potable use.”

“Within the north of town, we at Biome Environmental Belief, with the assistance of a CSR initiative, cleaned up six wells, and in two of them, the ladies within the space informed us to not set up a motor. They needed to attract the water manually. At present 50 to 70 households within the space can draw water from the effectively. In two different wells, the city municipal council have put in pumps, and thus far, they’ve acquired 70 million litres of water for his or her city municipal space,” he provides.

Vishwanath goes on to elaborate on different such initiatives his belief has launched into.

As he claims, “Within the Devanahalli township, the place the worldwide airport is situated, we’ve been capable of work with a number of NGOs and companions who cleaned up a lake, which is now full of rainwater and well-treated wastewater from Bengaluru. This water filters into the earth and there’s an previous open effectively we now have revived. That effectively offers 2.5 lakh litres of water a day to which we now have connected a water therapy plant and are supplying that water to the city of Devanahalli. We now have additionally constructed filter borewells, that are shallow borewells which go 80 to 100 ft deep, they usually have a porous casing and performance like open recharge wells.”

“Wherever we do good [open] recharge [wells] and lakes are revived, it’s the shallow aquifer which comes again to life,” he provides.

Vishwanath believes that each constructing in Bengaluru could be a part of the answer. “Take all of the rainwater you’ll be able to, retailer it in a sump tank and reuse it. In case you have extra rainwater, please be sure that this goes into recharge wells in order that the shallow aquifer is full and then you definitely dip into it in instances of want. That’s the general objective of our ‘One Million Wells for Bengaluru’ initiative.”

So, why weren’t these options put in place in elements of town that don’t have piped connections and are at present struggling for water?

“It’s because we don’t have a groundwater administration plan. We don’t have a groundwater authority which integrates groundwater into our consuming water wants. We simply have somebody who permits us to drill borewells. We don’t know the way a lot groundwater exists beneath our ft, the place are the recharge zones, the place we retain them, how a lot water are we drawing from every sub-aquifer, and the way we draw a stability between demand and provide. Within the absence of a groundwater cell within the BWSSB or the absence of a groundwater plan or an aquifer administration plan, what occurs is everyone seems to be tapping into the aquifer,” explains Vishwanath.

What we’re seeing at present in Bengaluru is aggressive drilling. In elements of town, individuals have dug borewells as deep as 1,800 ft.

“All people is taking water out. No one is placing water again in. Until we create the appropriate kind of establishment, which is chargeable for groundwater and manages it as a typical pool useful resource for all residents, that is what is going to occur and is occurring. The issue is institutional and lies in governance or lack thereof,” provides Vishwanath.

If groundwater ranges are the issue within the periphery of the primary metropolis, Vishwanath advocates the necessity to transfer from aggressive drilling to cooperative filling.

“As soon as it’s cooperative filling, we have to fill the lakes and make recharge wells in order that when the rains come, the water flows into the aquifer. That’s the resolution. Presently, we now have wonderful tertiary handled water in a few of our wastewater therapy vegetation like in Jakkur, Cubbon Park, and many others the place you’ll be able to drink the water from the sewage therapy vegetation (STPs),” he says.

“We have to take this water and fill our lakes shortly, which at the moment are dry, in order that the aquifer will get recharged. We must always begin getting ready to scrub up our rainwater harvesting methods and ensure new recharge wells are dug in order that when the summer season rains come, these drops of water are pushed into the aquifer. If that is achieved, we will overcome the issue within the quick run,” he provides.

Harvesting rainwater

The ‘One Million Wells for Bengaluru’ initiative was conceived and facilitated by Biome Environmental Belief to resolve town’s water disaster someday in 2005. The motion’s essential goal has been to allow households throughout town to adapt to the legislation mandating rainwater harvesting. And this additionally contains “a recharge effectively” choice.

Being on the helm of varied initiatives like ‘One Million Wells for Bengaluru’ and different rainwater harvesting initiatives, we requested Vishwanath to clarify their impression on town.

“For instance, the Rail Wheel Manufacturing facility in Yelahanka, the place they’ve achieved good rainwater harvesting, their open recharge wells are giving them two lakh litres of water a day. At IIM Bangalore, the place rainwater harvesting has been achieved, their borewells are giving them water at 300 to 400 ft, they usually’re getting sufficient water,” claims Vishwanath.

“Wherever rainwater harvesting is finished effectively and in concentrated quantities, there was no downside. Their aquifers are full and have water regardless of this 12 months’s drought. Even in Cubbon Park, the place individuals and organisations have achieved rainwater harvesting like Mates of Lakes, there’s water in open recharge wells. Rainwater harvesting can ship in X quantity of water however your withdrawal needs to be lower than X. In case your draw is 2X, then even this received’t assist,” he provides.

Having mentioned that, there are extra considerations in regards to the rainwater harvesting (RWH) infrastructure within the metropolis. It’s necessary to notice that the BWSSB Modification Act, 2011, made RWH obligatory for all properties on plots measuring 60×40 sq ft and above, and new properties developing on 30×40 sq ft websites. In 2015, penalties had been launched for properties that didn’t comply.

In a 7 December 2023 report for Citizen Issues, a Bengaluru-based media publication, reporter Navya PK writes, “…town at present has 10.8 lakh properties with water connections, however only one.9 lakh (almost 18%) of them have applied RWH.”

“One other 39,703 properties have been recognized for non-implementation and are paying penalties each month. These properties embrace particular person houses, residences (every residence is counted as a single connection), and industrial properties,” she provides.

In different phrases, compliance is a critical subject regardless that putting in a RWH system is neither very sophisticated nor cost-intensive. Vishwanath notes that residents ought to construct strong RWH methods in order that they don’t should face quality-related considerations down the road.

He believes that there are sufficient high quality supplies and competent plumbers current out there. A person dwelling can set up a RWH system for as little as Rs 5,000. Even should you insist on utilizing a high-quality filter, it may be achieved inside Rs 15,000, supplied you don’t should construct a brand new sump, he argues. And the advantages of this method are actual.

“In our dwelling, we now have rainwater harvesting methods which might be working optimally. Despite the fact that the final rains within the metropolis had been in November, our 1,000-litre rain barrel nonetheless has sufficient water for our consuming and cooking wants until June,” provides Vishwanath.

On the query of compliance, based on a Bangalore Mirror report by Sridhar Vivan on 9 January 2024, “A staggering Rs 21.24 crore was collected as penalties for non-compliance with rainwater harvesting laws till November-end final 12 months.”

For non-implementation of RWH in residential properties, fines begin from 25% of their water invoice for the primary three months, and 50% afterwards. For non-residential properties, it’s 50% and 100% of the water invoice respectively.

Vishwanath argues that it’s powerful to anticipate 100% compliance and argues that penalising residents will not be the best way ahead. As a substitute, he recommends that individuals ought to need to arrange a RWH system of their houses after a means of schooling and communication. And the advantages of putting in such a system in every Bengaluru dwelling could be immense.

A Bengaluru Water Datajam organised final month by Open Metropolis, a civic tech undertaking, discovered that based mostly on rainfall knowledge from 2022, “456 Million Litres per Day(MLD) may have been harvested in Bengaluru from the rooftops, which is 25% of the water demand of town – 1890 MLD.”

Is dipping into wastewater the best way ahead?

Rashmi Kulranjan and Shashank Palur, who’re hydrologists at WELL LABS, wrote a column for The Hindu on 24 March 2024 the place they recognized an answer to town’s water woes.

“Rainwater harvesting may make a dent on the freshwater wants of town however it pales compared to wastewater. Presently, solely one-third of town’s wastewater is redirected for exterior reuse, which implies it’s taken to Kolar, Chikkaballapur, and Devenahalli, the place it’s used to replenish each groundwater and floor water sources,” they wrote.

“The remaining water flows into lakes and runs off land to hitch rivers downstream. This implies the massive quantum of wastewater generated within the metropolis is an untapped useful resource. As soon as handled to the required high quality, wastewater can considerably mitigate freshwater consumption and could be essential in making town water resilient throughout low rainfall years,” they added.

It’s a sentiment that Vikas Brahmavar, founding father of Boson Whitewater, a Bengaluru-based water utility startup, shares. Talking to The Higher India, he says, “We must always not have a metropolis working on the hope of excellent rains. In spite of everything, if there aren’t any rains until June, will probably be a stress even on the municipal provide. We must always have a metropolis working on the hope of the wastewater flowing out and make use of freshwater provide as a buffer for our on a regular basis wants.”

“In any metropolis in India, when authorities plan water distribution, they by no means have a look at what goes out of town. In case you have a look at developed cities like Singapore, the planning just isn’t based mostly on freshwater out there in dams however based mostly on the predictable wastewater which goes out of town, as a result of that may be estimated clearly based mostly on the inhabitants,” says Vikas.

“If the inhabitants of a given metropolis is understood, authorities in locations like Singapore know precisely the quantity of wastewater which goes out. From the amount wastewater estimated, authorities can then gauge which industries could be lined by that handled wastewater,” he provides.

When it comes to coverage, their start line is wastewater, which addresses sanitation in addition to industrial water necessities, after which they have a look at the freshwater out there from dams or different sources.

“This massive mindset change has to come back. Any growing nation ought to have this mindset of wastewater first earlier than freshwater choices,” notes Vikas.

The Boson Whitewater system converts handled wastewater into “high-quality potable water”. The setup has superior an IoT (Web of Issues), AI (synthetic intelligence) and machine studying (ML) enabled 11-step filtration system to scale back bodily, chemical and organic contaminants current in STP-treated wastewater. Presently, they work with industries, IT parks, malls, and residence communities in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and recycle their wastewater.

On the finish of their 11-step filtration course of, he claims that the water doesn’t have any contaminants. “E coli, coliforms, heavy metals, excessive hardness, pesticides, and herbicides are all eliminated, and the water is crystal clear and potable. Nationwide Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) licensed lab studies point out the water is drinkable,” he provides.

Primarily, Boson is concentrated on this huge quantity of water which goes out of houses, residences, and workplaces as handled wastewater.

“As per our estimation, a 300-unit residence will generate about 1,50,000 litres of wastewater a day. The identical constructing complicated could have a sewage therapy plant however solely 20% (about 30,000 litres) of the handled water that comes out from this facility will likely be used. In different phrases, a couple of lakh litres of handled wastewater results in the drain,” he says.

“Our system can take this one lakh litre of handled wastewater and produce potable-quality water from it in order that the neighbouring houses or industrial services don’t have to use borewell water and as a substitute purchase our potable-quality water for no matter they need,” he provides.

Boson Whitewater is at present collaborating with the Bangalore Water Provide and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) on a separate undertaking to handle town’s water shortage downside. However their prime focus has been the restoration of handled recycled water and promoting it.

“Wastewater will all the time be there whether or not there’s rainfall or not. Since we’re recovering high-quality water from wastewater, our purchasers haven’t been adversely affected as a result of they’ve a daily provide which is assured by us on a contractual foundation. A few of our purchasers on uncommon events name in a tanker however for probably the most half, we’re capable of recuperate the wastewater which is out there to the utmost extent and provide that to them,” he says.

(In Half 2, we are going to have a look at what residents of Bengaluru can do to mitigate water shortage within the metropolis.)

(Edited by Pranita Bhat)

(Pictures courtesy Shutterstock/PQN Studios/Joe Ravi/WESTOCK PRODUCTIONS/MudaCom, S Vishwanath & The Higher India)