Amid a severe water crisis, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has banned the usage of drinking water for car washing, gardening, construction, water fountains and road construction and maintenance in Bengaluru. An order has been issued on the same and the ban is on the usage of Cauvery drinking water for these purposes for the next three months. Those violating the order will be fined Rs 5000. A repeated violation will incur Rs 5000 with an extra Rs 500 penalty per day.
BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasath Manohar told TNM that people can use treated water for the same and the BWSSB has no objection to it. When asked how the BWSSB will monitor the enforcement of such a ban, he said, “We will have our officers doing random checks. We have no objection to the usage of treated water for any of these purposes. The ban will be in place till the end of summer.”
The officer added that the BWSSB was working on augmenting the water supply and they hoped some relief would be available by the first week of April.
BWSSB has collected information on the ongoing construction projects in the city. The chairman said that the board will hold meetings with the builders about the usage of drinking water for construction. He added that treated water would be provided for construction projects and for the maintenance of public parks in the city.
Currently around 1,200 BWSSB borewells have dried up and approximately 400 borewells have been repaired, with 200 of these operational. As of March 7, 1,391 tankers have been registered on the online portal initiated by BBMP.
The BWSSB chairman had said earlier on March 7, “As there’s an acute water shortage in the city, BWSSB is bound to provide drinking water to the citizens and people have to use drinking water judiciously. If not, we will initiate action against them.”
He added that 10-20% water meant for industrial areas would be diverted to residential areas.
According to reports, residents associations in Bengaluru had earlier issued directions in societies not to use drinking water for other purposes. The Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) had also expressed concerns about inadequate water supply and urged IT employees to minimise the use of water.
“As responsible citizens, all companies and tech parks should put in measures to save water as much as possible in addition to all that they are already doing in this regard. We also urge BWSSB and relevant authorities to take the right measures to bridge the gap between demand and supply for both corporates and residences,” the ORRCA said in a statement.