Potable drinking water for all villages in Karnataka: K J George

Bengaluru: The state government will set aside Rs 10,000 crore a year to supply potable drinking water to all Karnataka villages over the next three years, Bengaluru development minister, K.J. George announced at the “ Water Conference- 2016” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here on Thursday.

“The government will provide infrastructure in the form of RO plants and public-private partnership can ensure that the investment is maintained and upgraded in the future,” he said.

Making all the right noises on water conservation, the minister said the government was working towards restoration of water bodies, minimizing leaks in the distribution network and increasing the supply of fresh water. “The goal is to bring down  water lost in distribution to at least 30 per cent from the current 36 per cent,” he underlined, adding that the state was also focusing on reducing water contamination while encouraging initiatives to promote water reuse and recycling.

Stressing on better water management, BWSSB chairman, T.M Vijay Bhaskar told the conference that a dedicated citizen phone-line (1916) would be set up to allow people to report  leaks in the water lines  in the city. A '660 crore project was underway as well in South Bengaluru to replace old PVC pipes, faulty connections and defective meters.

As for rain water harvesting , he said a Singapore agency had been engaged to help with it in the catchment area in North Bengaluru. Noting that the BWSSB had made rain water harvesting a must since 2009, he revealed that 55,000 of the 65,000 houses that were supposed to go in for it had already done so.
Revealing that around 1,300 MLD of the 1,650 MLD (million liters per day) of water used by Bengalureans was let off as sewage, he said the city was able to  currently treat only 600 MLD of it. But the board was now hoping to  build  sewage treatment plants to treat another 339 MLD  and 500 MLD respectively by the end of the year, enabling  it to treat 1,100 MLD of sewage in all, he added.

“We have urged CREDAI to adopt RWH in buildings under construction and the association has agreed to oblige,” he added.