Karnataka: Car was washed with drinking water and used in construction… FIR against 22 people in Bengaluru, fine of Rs 1.10 lakh
India’s Silicon Valley Bengaluru is currently going through a terrible water crisis. 223 out of 240 tehsils of the state have been declared drought. The water crisis is so severe that since the ban on other uses of drinking water, FIR has been registered against 22 people while a fine of more than one lakh has been imposed.
The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) had banned the use of drinking water in the city for vehicle washing, gardening, construction and other purposes in the second week of March. Board Chairman Ram Prashant Manohar says that we were receiving most of the complaints from the south-east area. We have appealed to the public to use water properly and have also issued a warning.
According to the report, a fine of Rs 5,000 each has been imposed on 22 families of Bengaluru for using drinking water for other purposes. In this way, a total fine of Rs 1.1 lakh has been collected so far.
Daily shortage of fifty crore liters of water in Bengaluru
Last week, the administration had imposed some rules in view of Holi. The board had asked commercial and entertainment centers not to use water from the Cauvery river or borewells for organizing pool parties for Holi.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had earlier said that the water crisis is increasing continuously in Bengaluru. Bengaluru is facing shortage of about fifty crore liters of water every day. The city gets 147 crore liters of water every day from the Kaveri river while 65 crore liters of water comes from borewells.
Tanker mafias dominate in Bengaluru
Recently, India Today’s investigation revealed that an underground network is engaged in illegal extraction of water from borewells in Bengaluru and profiteering schemes. Bengaluru, with a population of 1.4 crores, has many international companies like Walmart, Google and Microsoft but Bengaluru is facing the brunt of weak monsoon, continuously depleting ground water, reservoir and excessive urbanization.
Amid the continuous shortage of drinking water in Bengaluru, India Today’s investigation has revealed water tanker mafias, who are selling water indiscriminately without government registration, flouting the law.
The biggest water crisis in four decades
Karnataka is facing the biggest water crisis in the last forty years. Recently, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar had said that we have not seen such a drought in the last 30 to 40 years. However, droughts have occurred here before. But we have not declared tehsils as drought affected on such a large scale.
