Water scarcity hits schools in Bengaluru; home school shut doors, government-run institute hunts for alternate options

“The borewell has run dry for the past week and despite repeated calls to several water tankers, we were unsuccessful in getting one. A lot of tankers are now unavailable because they are now under the government ambit and we are finding it difficult to access their services unlike before. Since ours is a homeschool with activity-based learning, we didn’t want to take the risk of continuing our school without water. So, we decided to shut it temporarily until the issue is resolved,” said Raju.

She also added that the parents have been informed about the decision and they are cooperating.

Meanwhile, Government Primary School in Hosakerehalli has run out of borewell water and the education officials are making efforts to use the tanker services to fulfill the non-drinking water purposes.

Deputy director of public instruction, South, Rajashekar, said, “We are closely watching the situation and are aiding government schools under our division that are facing water crisis. So far, only the Hosakerahalli government school is reeling under a crisis. We are supporting the school with alternative sources of water to keep the school running. We are not shutting down the school because of the water crisis.”

A block education officer said, “The borewell has run dry and even after reboring, the water is scarce. So, we are now calling water tankers to fill the sump and use it for non-drinking purposes. Meanwhile, we are arranging for mineral water to cater to the drinking water purpose. We have requested the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board to drill another borewell to cater to the water supply demand for the school. They have assured us of early action.”

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru district administration on Wednesday capped the prices charged by water tankers from the residents. It fixed the rates for 200 private tankers deployed on a contract basis for a four-month period based on a technical advisory committee’s recommendation.

The rates fixed by the Bengaluru Urban district administration are as follows:

Rates for distances up to 5 km:

Rs 600 for a 6,000-litre water tanker.

Rs 700 for an 8,000-litre water tanker.

Rs 1,000 for a 12,000-litre water tanker.

Rates for distances between 5 km and 10 km:

Rs 750 for a 6,000-litre water tanker.

Rs 850 for an 8,000-litre water tanker.

Rs 1,200 for a 12,000-litre water tanker.

In a circular, Bengaluru deputy commissioner Dayananda KA said all the taluks in the Bengaluru Urban district have been declared drought-hit. He added that private water tankers fall under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bracket and as a result, the rates include a GST component.