Battling a severe water crisis, Karnataka's Bengaluru has reportedly introduced a penalty on the wastage of drinking water and promote economical use of the same.
The decision was taken by the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board in a bid to promote judicious use of water, an NDTV report said.
Recommending economical use of drinking water, the board has urged Bengaluru residents to avoid using drinking water for washing vehicles, construction and entertainment purposes, and at cinema halls and malls.
A penalty of Rs 5,000 will be imposed on those found violating the norms an additional amount of Rs 500 will be slapped on those repeat offenders, the board has reportedly decided.
Bengaluru, a city with 1.3 crore population, faces a shortfall of over 1,500 MLD (Million Liters Per Day) in its daily water needs, which ranges between 2,600-2,800 MLD.
How Bengaluru Is Tackling Water Crisis
The worsening water crisis becomes has led to other establishments in the city to resort to certain measures to tackle the situation. A coaching centre in Vijayanagar in Bengaluru asked its students to attend classes online due to an 'emergency' for a week. Similarly, a school on Bannerghatta Road in the city shut down, asking the students to attend classes virtually.
The Indian Meteorology Department has attributed the scanty rains to El Nino effect. One can gauge the grim situation from the fact that water tankers were seen inside Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's office residence on Kumarakrupa Road in Bengaluru.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the borewell in his house in Sadashivanagar in the state capital has gone dry for the first time. This happened despite the fact that Sadashivanagar is located next to Sankey Lake.
A gated society in the city has even asked its residents to use disposable plates and wet wipes to conserve water. This came amid the state government's decision to take over private tankers for supplying water to the driest parts of Bengaluru, a move that has aggravated problems for private apartment complexes that were dependent on tankers for their daily supply of water.
Vasanth Kumar, the president of the residents' association at Prestige Falcon City in Kanakapura Road in Bengaluru said that the measure was recommended only in case of dire straits. "It was only suggested in case residents ran out of water," a Moneycontrol report quoted him as saying.
Kumar said arrangements have been made and they are expecting their water supply to be replenished by 4 pm. The gated society has also been practicing water cuts with the supply being made available from 6 am to 11 am and from 5 pm to 11 pm, the report said.
