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Old 10th May 2017, 17:17   #31
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

The water problem has happened as the responsible departments are not efficient and foresighted. The uncontrolled and unplanned development without implementation of basic infrastructure, lack of understanding of urban planning requirements and apathy has led to this.

The situation can be improved still. Strong and focused implementation of 'Green'ideas has to be done. This situation will deteriorate if an overall and unbiased approach is not take.

Having lived in Bangalore for 35 years, it is really sad to see the once beautiful city this way.
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Old 11th May 2017, 11:32   #32
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

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Originally Posted by ashokrajagopal View Post
You cant control water with water meters and fees. That is counter productive. There is no dearth on money in this city, mind you. Paying for it just makes people feel entitled to waste water.
I respectfully disagee Installing meters in apartments, and every house must be mandatory, along with rainwater harvesting.

I know 2 apartments where they implemented the water meters, and the overall consumption reduced to about 60%. Now, just see the amount of water that was being wasted.

Another big advantage of metering is that, people who are careful about the water usage are rewarded by lower charges. There is a straight incentive for being frugal, and lower consumption is not penalized by cross subsidizing the water abusers. Again metering will enable finding the source of water wastage, and could sensitize such people.

I know many examples of water harvesting done in apartments (including my old apartment), which are very successful, and they have reduced the dependence on water tankers significantly.
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Old 11th May 2017, 13:25   #33
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

Bangalore has been experiencing population outburst each day . The city was never planned to grow this way , and now things have blown out of proportion. The coffin was dug back in 2008 when several lakh trees were cut down indiscriminately for Metro rail . Now each day nails are being put into that coffin .
What irritates me is that Bangalore does not have a natural source of water like a river or sea . So government should take every step possible to save the lakes . On the contrary , lakes are vanishing , BTM and HSR lakes are in a sad state , suffering from encroachments and pollution . Varthur and Belandur lakes are declared dead . Kaikondrahalli lake is also suffering from illegal construction and encroachments . If steps are not taken to save our lakes Bangalore will soon be a dead city.
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Old 11th May 2017, 18:49   #34
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

Guys, thanks for starting such a useful discussion. I have picked up a few good ideas from the thread so far.

In my view, the unregulated use of concrete and official negligence of duties are major causes of this situation.

The Chennai Corporation went on a large scale 'pedestrians oriented' redesign and created wide platforms and foot high links connecting 2 pavements - all with rampant use of concrete. Trees that were uprooted by cyclone Vardah weren't replaced but the space left by them was filled over with concrete.

I have heard that storm water drains must have be inverted U shaped structures with the bottom left unpaved so that a good amount rain water seeps back to earth and harvested as it flows to its end line.

But the greed of inflated payments that can be siphoned from the amount of concrete used ultimately gets to the politically backed contractors.

Therefore, the responsibility lies on the individual home owners and societies to set up RWH structures in their properties. We must also educate the upcoming generation - children for most of us and grandchildren for others - on water conservation and that it is much more vital than motor fuel. Hell, the entire nation's economy is pegged on the monsoon forecast. Look at what is happening in the stock market.
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Old 11th May 2017, 22:27   #35
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

Guys we cannot change nature of people, we are who we are. Neither can we control population, migration etc. Greed of people trumps nature every single time. Only solution is to turn to the oceans, they are there for a reason. When God created humans he/she being all knowing must have realised humans will reach this crisis and gave us so many oceans. Let's use technology to convert that into usable water, it may not be possible today but maybe in few decades.

Moreover Earth has survived 4.5 billion years of nonsense, it will outlive us too. Max that will happen is our species will cease to exist, evolution will then start all over again.

Last edited by heydj : 11th May 2017 at 22:30.
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Old 13th May 2017, 00:36   #36
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

A few govts. back Kumar Bangarappa (ex-actor and son of an ex CM tried to rejuvenate all lakes in KA).

Sadly he "encroached" into private land. Originally peasant owned land. Now a part of an individual corruptly obtained property. So he soon found himself with no political future. Or film future.

Ms.J. with all her good and average qualities found people to rejuvenate ALL of TN lakes.

That's why we're looking at decent water levels in TN.
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Old 13th May 2017, 19:06   #37
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Moreover Earth has survived 4.5 billion years of nonsense, it will outlive us too. Max that will happen is our species will cease to exist, evolution will then start all over again.

Amen to that.

About time the damned human species became extinct.

What we need is a good old fashioned plague type thing to wipe our wicked species out completely.

The way we have destroyed and harmed this planet and almost every other species including ourselves, is incredible in its sheer scale.

Another Ice Age? Well, so be it.
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Old 15th May 2017, 08:44   #38
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

Interesting thread and informative posts.
In Ahmedabad, water from the Narmada canal is supplied to most households. People install borewells, but the depth of the line is increasing alarmingly. These days, you do not get good water even if you dig 700 feet into the ground. But does anyone care when the bore well goes dry? Nope. They dig deeper.
Unless we learn how to recycle water, things will not improve. For cities that are near the coastline (Mumbai, Chennai etc.), desalination is an option, albeit an expensive one. But for other cities, people have to rely on rivers or bore wells. It is worrying that there is no Indian city which is even close to being water positive. No one recycles water and there are very limited directives ("have a shorter shower" or "close taps when not in use") by the government. It seems that no one really cares about this problem right now.
Water tax is important, but it will not solve the problem. It may coerce middle class people to repair the leaking cistern or wash their car less often, but it will not affect those who can afford to water the lawn in the middle of the afternoon, or build a "golf club facing villa" scheme on a parched land.
It is only when water recycling is incentivized, at least on a small scale within apartment complexes, that things will change.
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Old 16th May 2017, 12:03   #39
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

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Originally Posted by shankar.balan View Post
Amen to that.

About time the damned human species became extinct.

What we need is a good old fashioned plague type thing to wipe our wicked species out completely.

The way we have destroyed and harmed this planet and almost every other species including ourselves, is incredible in its sheer scale.

Another Ice Age? Well, so be it.
6th extinction phase of the earth has already started. Earth has been through multiple major and minor extinction phases and we are headed for the next one and this one is on us for sure. https://www.theguardian.com/environm...cience-warning

Extinction is part of earth's process and things will happen as per the grand plan. But what is alarming is the pace of change. My son who was asking me the other day if a situation like in the movie Mad Max Fury Road is a possibility and I could easily imagine that situation where Bangalore has turned into a desert (almost) and the tanker mafia is controlling all the water. At the current pace this can happen in the next 8-10 year...scary as hell!
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Old 17th May 2017, 13:53   #40
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

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I have my own house in Chennai and I have installed Water 365 aerator in all the main taps. It limits the water to 6LPM no matter how much the tap is open.

I see water flowing on the road almost every day in one or the other house in Koramangala and not to mention the cleaning of cars almost every day using long pipes by people living those big mansions. Nobody is going to educate them, that's for sure.
I used to live in Koramangala and saw this almost everyday. It got to a point where I even asked a car owner to consider not washing a car if he has not taken it out of the garage every other day with a running pipe always.

As a contribution to the Water conservation thing, I have resorted to washing & cleaning my car only when utmost necessary sort of 2 weeks - 10 days period.

I once called a doorstep car wash guy and saw them use water/soap spray for cleaning. And from that day this has become a norm for me to do it like them. All car wash is through Water + Soap Solution spray.

In the last 1 year and 6 Months of the Ownership of Ertiga, would have definitely saved 1500-1600 liters of Water.
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Old 17th May 2017, 14:35   #41
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

A waterless car wash requires just "1" litre of water to spray on and clean an entire car. You also have to have water to wash 2 towels after that. Unless you treaded some serious slush, it should work very well. I have never washed my car except for routine services. These days, I take about 200 ml more and wash my scooter and bullet along with my car. If it is basic cleanliness of the car that anybody is after, they should seriously consider the waterless wash products. Its cost effective, and a good exercise too, to walk around and clean panel by panel.
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Old 17th May 2017, 19:09   #42
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

This water problem has been a by product of our greed and exploitation of mother earth. The larger issue is sewage management and unless we stop dumping untreated sewage into our lakes this problem will only magnify.

Bangalore ones had hundred's of lakes and at present it has come down to a two digit figure. Most of the lakes have been encroached by various man made structures and the remaining have become so polluted that they can't sustain any marine ecosystem.

During a 2011/12 survey of the water quality in Bangalore (both Cauvery & bore-well) it was found that 60% of the samples were E-coli positive and I am sure this number would have only increased by now. I also strongly believe that we might have developed resistance to E-coli over the years of exposure and that might be the likely reason for no report of epidemic outbreak till date.

The ground water sinking is one issue and the same getting polluted due to untreated sewage being dumped into lakes and the same getting filtered into the groundwater table is another issue. The deeper we dig for water the more it will contain traces of metals and minerals which further escalates the problem.

BWSSB runs potable water lines along with sewage lines and contamination is inevitable considering the state of maintenance of such lines.

The situation as of now looks extremely grim and within 5 years if it is left unchecked will precipitate into a major catastrophe. The only solution is to find ways and means to treat sewage on a massive scale and not to dump the same into the little existing lakes, a working rainwater harvesting system on a massive scale, cleaning and reinvigorating the lakes, large scale reforestation, and of-course metering the water usage.

All of this has to be done on an immediate basis with active involvement of local population. Any further neglect will definitely be the end of Bangalore and for that sake any other major metro city.
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Old 19th May 2017, 14:45   #43
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

While reading all the various posts, i had a fundamental doubt. Does waste water really get lost? Since energy can not be created or destroyed, ideally waste water should return back in some form. So why then is there a shortage?

As usual, i turned to Google uncle who pointed me to this interesting article.

Is it really possible to waste water?


I think they explained matters quite well. In simplistic terms, one of the main reasons cities are facing water shortage is due to over consumption due to population density. Waste water in cities also typically are not reclaimed/treated but they are allowed to run off into underground streams that end up in the sea/ocean. Hence on average there is a steady loss of water that is not cycling back to the city.

I think if all our cities take up waste water treatment in a more efficient manner, it will help solve matter to a good extent. Of cause, basic RWH and other conservation techniques need to be applied as well, but these are long term sustenance. Waste water treatment can provide water for use within short period of time.

Last edited by DriverR : 19th May 2017 at 14:49. Reason: Additional points added
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Old 19th January 2018, 15:27   #44
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

Cape Town may become the first large city in the world to run out of water.

Quote:
South Africa's drought-stricken Cape Town told residents on Wednesday they would need to cut their daily water consumption by almost half from next month as authorities scramble to prevent the city running out of water as soon as in April. Struggling to cope with its worst drought in a century, Cape Town, South Africa's second-largest city and a major tourist hub, last cut water consumption targets in October but its mayor said on Wednesday that too few residents were paying them any heed. From Feb. 1, the target for water consumption per person would be lowered to 50 litres (13 gallons) from 87 litres a day, and the collective consumption target to 450 million litres from 500 million litres a day, Mayor Patricia de Lille said.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

Quote:
Under the plans for Day Zero, each resident of Cape Town would be allowed only 25 litres of water per day, which must be collected from neighbourhood taps. Each supply point would be shared by about 20,000 people per day. The city is consulting police and army officials to decide how to maintain law and order at the collection points.
Looks like a scene from Mad Max - Fury Road

Last edited by AltoLXI : 19th January 2018 at 15:35.
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Old 19th January 2018, 15:58   #45
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Re: The water crisis in Bangalore

For one, I think the charges we pay for water is very less. We need to more punitive slabs of water metering. I always wonder if our roads are done correctly and reduce the dust, car washing could drastically reduce, people washing the front yards of their houses would reduce and so on. See, you start with one problem and find your way to all other problems in our country !

Coming to Bengaluru water woes, I am sure solutions will be there. Cauvery will be used to quench our thirst stealing water away from agriculture to some extent. Piplelines will bring water to city from Krishna and West flowing rivers.

But still I am disappointed that we cannot use abundant rainfall in the right manner and we let waste water along with rain water flow away. This helps neighbouring places, right?. I could track the water flowing out of Varthur lake and Arkavathi on google maps and finding water being useful to others. But we are wasting tremendous energy to bring water from far off places. Lack of common sense as usual.
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