As many as 30 people under the banner of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Consumers’ Forum staged a protest against the scarcity of drinking water in summer in front of the Shimsha Bhavan here on Thursday.
The protesters said areas such as Yarab Nagar, Pragatipura, Sarakki and Jaraganahalli get Cauvery water supply only once a week, forcing many residents to purchase water.
Referring to specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) that had estimated the daily requirement of water per person as 135 litres, R. Manjunath, representative of the forum, said a family of five requires at least 675 litres a day, but most families do not even get 300 litres. Worse, in some areas families have access to no more than 100 litres of water a day, he added.
Recently, the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO), a technical wing of the Union Ministry of Urban Development and World Health Organisation, revised the daily requirement for urban areas in India to 150 litres per person. CPHEEO deals with matters related to urban water supply and sanitation, including solid waste management.
Even though the fourth stage second phase of the Cauvery pipeline had been implemented, Mr. Manjunath regretted that residents are not able to get water. Instead of addressing these issues, the government has brought in the Sajala project, which aims to limit leakage through illegal water connections but is promoting private water suppliers, the protesters alleged. According to them, in some areas one water meter is being used for a row of houses. The protesters urged the government to implement the Dr. Paramashivaiah Committee report.
Their other demands included converting the fee collected through ‘Sajala’ into a deposit, rejuvenation of lakes, an end to privatisation of water supply, and proper maintenance of sewerage system.
