Bengaluru's water crisis is a call for urgent action amidst urban chaos

Tech firms embrace innovative water conservation measures, residents make do with less

From installing water-saving aerators on taps to using cans for washing hands and dishes, Bengaluru is adopting diverse strategies to tide over the water crisis. 

While several citizens have taken to social media to urge Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to make work from home mandatory for IT companies, it appears that hybrid mode will continue to be the norm for most – although with new water conservation measures in place.    

Co-working space provider Urban Vault has, for instance, installed smart water meters to detect leakage. “If there is one, we address it immediately,” said Amal Mishra, its co-founder.  

The company is also providing water efficiency education and training to its soft service employees to raise awareness about the importance of water conservation.

At Happiest Minds Technologies, where 60 per cent of its Bengaluru-based staff works four days a week from its facilities in Madivala and Electronic City, water needs are met through Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) supply, rainwater-recharged borewells, and tankers. “We have been fortunate to have experienced no disruption of these sources,” said Venkatraman Narayanan, managing director and Chief Financial Officer, Happiest Minds. 

Happiest Minds’ facilities at Bengaluru are ‘zero discharge’ certified, recycling all water and utilising rainwater harvesting, he added.

Rain, though, has been evasive, forcing offices and residences to cap water consumption.

Conventional offices typically consume 35-40 litres of water per person per day. IndiQube, a shared office space provider, claims to have brought that down to 15-17 litres per person per day.

It has achieved this through rainwater harvesting, sewage and water treatment plants, and by deploying water-efficient fixtures. “We are also using CDI (capacitive deionisation) technology for water purification at our properties where the wastage is almost 80 per cent lower compared to a typical RO,” said Rishi Das, co-founder, IndiQube.

There are reasons Bengaluru’s brand as the Silicon Valley of India is taking a hit. Depleting groundwater and Cauvery levels have caused the latest crisis, which has escalated water tanker prices, forcing the Karnataka government to intervene.

Multipronged challenges

Over the years, the idyllic city of lakes and gardens has become a case study of what rampant and haphazard development can do. Several lakes have dried up or turned toxic. Gardens have given way to concrete structures, and the traffic is a mess. 

The multipronged challenges, including water shortage, poor infrastructure and the recent bomb blast, have unsettled its residents.  

Apurva Jataan, who lives at United Elysium in Whitefield, said her apartment community has enforced measures such as daily water suspension, and has urged domestic helps to minimise water usage, and adopt cans for washing hands and dishes.

“I have noticed a significant number of water tankers arriving in our community,” said the 26-year-old.

The situation is similar at Thubarahalli, Whitefield. “We have water suspensions from 10 am to 12 pm and 7 pm to 10 pm,” said Indrani Chatterjee, a resident. 

Exo Tom, head of the society at MJR Platina, Kudlu Gate, said after a “thorough analysis of daily and monthly water consumption”, aerators have been installed on taps in washrooms to optimise consumption. “This way, we will be able to save a good amount of water,” he said.

Conservation lessons

The city’s residential campuses, too, are rolling up their sleeves.  

The Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru (IIMB) has implemented rainwater harvesting measures to address water sustainability. 

“IIMB recycles over 250,000 litres of water daily through its sewage treatment plant (STP),” the institute said through a statement. “To bolster the groundwater table in and around the campus, 57 strategically located artificial recharge pits have been excavated.” Additionally, 17 more recharge wells are under construction, it said.

“The crisis will only deepen in the years to come unless we do something about it,” said Trilochan Sastry, an IIMB professor who has set up an organisation called the Centre for Collective Development (CCD). It engages with local communities in the villages of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh within 200 km of Bengaluru city to restore water bodies. So far, CCD has desilted and restored 500,000 cubic metres of water and is working on long-term strategies to revive and restore water bodies. 

The problems are arising from the lack of holistic water resource management, said Gopal Naik, Jal Jeevan Mission chair professor at IIMB. He emphasises the importance of capturing, preserving and safeguarding water from contaminants, and ensuring its judicious use. There is a crying need for general awareness on these aspects among the government and citizens, he added.

Uma Reddy, vice president of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, emphasised the need for a dedicated department to address the water crisis in the city. She pointed out that water scarcity was inevitable given the extremely poor rainfall Karnataka experienced this year and stressed the importance of proactive measures throughout the year, rather than last-minute reactions. “A  lot more needs to be done, both on green cover improvement, revival of lakes, and better water management systems,” she said. 

Crises such as these impact the image of Brand Bengaluru, which is “an amalgam of many things and many thoughts. Safety, security and the ease of living are certainly a component,” said Harish Bijoor, founder, Harish Bijoor Consults, a Bengaluru-based brand and business strategy consultancy. “Recent events such as the Rameshwaram Cafe blast and the water crisis certainly affect the brand,” he said. “The brand is stirred, but not shaken.” The actions that the government takes to resolve these issues will help revive it.