Bengaluru residents are left high and dry by abandoned RO facilities
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials have been holding long meetings and asserting that they are solving the city’s water crisis this summer, but the harsh truth is that a large number of the RO drinking water plants that the civic body installed are broken.
For the last several years, thousands of people have been dependent on the 600 water ATMs. These ATMs accept coins up to Rs 5, and after that they release 20 liters of RO water. Citizens are compelled to purchase water cans from private providers, who charge more than Rs 30 per can, since many of these factories are no longer able to provide water.
“My home is in Azad Nagar. For years, my daily ritual has included filling water cans from the nearby RO facility. But for the previous several days, the facility has not been operating. Nobody can answer our questions to find out what the issue is. We need at least two water cans each day for our family, and this amount increases on weekends when everyone remains at home, according to bank employee Harish. According to Harish, he now pays Rs 40 per can for water that he receives from a private water source. He laments, “It is a big expense for me every day.”
The scenario is essentially the same across the city: residents who live in places without operational RO plants travel to neighboring neighborhoods where they do, only to be disillusioned by the long line when they arrive.
We only get water from 6 to 9 in the morning and evening. People are in long lines when we go to acquire water at that time, and we have to wait for at least an hour to receive a can. According to Prakash Murugan, a Rajarajeshwari Nagar resident, “since many of them are employed, they cannot afford to wait so long and end up buying water cans from private suppliers, which again is a burden for them.”
As their water crisis concerns go unaddressed, citizens have questioned where all the enormous cash that BBMP claims to have been providing to ease the water crisis are disappearing to. Tushar Girinath, the chief commissioner of the BBMP, did not answer calls.
BWSSB encourages citizens to lease tankers
Bengaluru: The BWSSB has requested that the public hire out their available tankers in order to address the lack of tankers available to transport water to places where there is a scarcity. According to a BWSSB official, several resident welfare groups that previously utilized tankers to transport water from their borewells have stopped doing so, and the tankers are now sitting idle. In a formal statement, the BWSSB’s Chief Engineer for Designs, Jaishankar, may be reached at 9845444009 by anybody interested in hiring their tankers.
