BENGALURU: The big problem I see ahead for Bengaluru is the one problem that every big unplanned city in India will see, later than sooner. The water problem! The old boots of infrastructure, both hard and soft, just don’t fit the demands of new Bengaluru. The last decennial census of 1991 put the Bengaluru population at 84.3 lakh. The current number is somewhere around 134 lakh and when the next decennial census is taken up in 2021, expect the number to nudge 150 lakh. And that’s the demand side of the equation.
Let’s look at supply. Our lakes have shrunk, either willingly or due to wanton neglect, and in many cases by conscious design. We do not have a good rain-water harvesting system that percolates every area of the city. The laws are on paper, but there seems to be a latent unwillingness to bite the bullet and toe the rule laid down. Our water table is getting to be more and more difficult to reach. And worst of all, we seem to be affecting the water table levels of surrounding clusters of rural agglomerations around Bengaluru as well. The canker of water is therefore one that is not restricted to Bengaluru alone, but is spreading like a cancer grabbing surrounding areas of our megapolis.
Solution
We need to act and act fast. Here are a set of three speed-points to address the issue that is going to grab us literally by our throats, very soon. First, we need to wake up and smell the coffee, without water of course. Invest in re-creating our water bodies and in rejuvenating our wells. Invest in cleaning up our Raja Kaluves, and start calling them ‘Raja Kaluves’ again and not the anglicised ‘Storm Water Drains’. Drains are dirty and Raja Kaluves are meant to be clean storm water pathways. Create a significant rain-water harvesting system in every locality. The ultimate god we need to worship in the future is the water-body, which we have neglected in the past.
Creating a massive awareness programme among city dwellers is also key. We need to care for the precious water we have today with us. We need to stop washing our cars, scooters and lorries the way we do with water. Instead, we need to depend on vacuum possibly or a dry clean. We need to flush our toilets a lot less than we do and we need to ensure that every tap in the city has a water saving nozzle that does the job with just the right amount of water flowing out of the tap.
Lastly, and I know I am going to be unpopular for this suggestion, but let me be. It’s for the god I worship: Water. Money talks. I think it is time for Bengaluru to hike its water tariff by a minimum 300 per cent. When we end up paying three times more for the water we use, we just might want to reduce its wanton use by one-third. What say? Touché!
Harish Bijoor, brand guru and founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc