Bengaluru: Water scarcity spurs tanker wars

Bengaluru: The water scarcity in the city has become so acute that people are resorting to strong arm tactics to divert supply to their areas.

In BTM Layout and surrounding areas the associates of local politicians and landlords are stopping water tankers crossing their areas and threatening them with dire consequences if they do not fill their water tanks first. “Yes, this has happened with us. We do not have sufficient water to cater to everyone’s needs and this is happening for the first time with us. The anger is natural, but there is hardly anything that we can do,” said Shivaprasada (name changed), a driver associated with a private water supplier.

Residents allege that problem aggravated when water suppliers started auctioning water. “The water would go only to the highest bidder. For my own apartment, I could not arrange water for days since the tankers were refusing to come. The charge was going as high as Rs 1,500-2,500. This scarcity should alarm us as next year it would be more acute and residents would come to the street to get water,” said Nitish, an apartment owner on Chocolate Factory Road.

With over 9,981 borewells across the city, the experts say more than 600 have dried up in the core areas. The demand for water has risen due to this year’s scorching summer. Nitish further added that the major priority of all the political parties in this election should have been to chalk out a plan on how to deal with the major crisis that has taken a toll on the city.