“Mekedutu Project Ultimate Solution: Worst Water Crisis in Three Decades,” Declares DK Shivakumar, and the BJP Stages Protest

In the midst of Karnataka’s acute water crisis in Bengaluru, India’s IT capital, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said on Monday that the Mekedatu Project is the best way to address the problem and that opposition parties are politicizing it.

The Congress leader told the public that measures are being taken to restrict the operations of the water mafia in the area, and that the next two months would be significant in that regard. He said that Karnataka has not had such a severe drought in the previous three decades.

“Though there had been drought in the past, we had never declared such a large number of taluks as drought-affected,” Shivakumar said. “We had not seen such a drought in the last 30 to 40 years.”

Shivakumar said, “Mekedatu will be the ultimate solution for the water crisis in Bengaluru,” in reference to the state government’s initiatives. For the next few months, Cauvery water has been set aside for the city’s water supply.

Over 1,500 privately owned water tankers have registered with the authorities. He stated, “The rate has been fixed, and the officers have been deployed.”

The Cauvery River provides 1,450 MLD of the 2,100 MLD of potable water that Bengaluru needs. Officials aimed to make sure that there was enough water in the reservoirs by July.

According to authorities, the city requires around eight thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water between March and May, even though reservoirs have 34 TMC of water.

They said that borewell water provides the remaining 650 MLD of the city’s water needs. This area has a 250 MLD deficit, which is mostly the result of groundwater overuse, subsurface water level decline, and a lack of precipitation.

In the meantime, Bengaluru’s municipal officials have made the decision to refill the city’s groundwater supplies—roughly half of the city’s borewells have dried up—by filling the drying lakes with 1,300 million liters of purified water per day.

BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasath Manohar said that this endeavor has been undertaken in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and that it is anticipated to contribute around 2030 MLD of water to the system.

Notably, to raise awareness of the city’s water problems, the opposition BJP has scheduled a rally for Monday at Freedom Park.

Opposition leader R. Ashoka accused the Congress administration of being incompetent, implying that this has led to a scenario where several global corporations are considering leaving the city.

Shivakumar retorted, saying, “We are certainly open to considering any constructive suggestions they may have.”