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Journalism of Courage
With Bengaluru facing severe water shortage, many have compared the city’s predicament to Cape Town’s in 2015-18.
Dr T V Ramachandra, Coordinator, Energy and Wetlands Research Group in Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science, was asked about this comparison in a recent interview with The Indian Express. He noted that if the city continues to “mismanage” its water supply, it can soon face a situation worse than South Africa’s legislative capital a few years ago.
Cape Town faced a serious water shortage between 2015 and 2018, which peaked around 2017. It was characterised by critically low levels of water in the city’s reservoirs, threatening to completely exhaust the city’s water supply, and forcing authorities to implement strict water-rationing measures.
The scarcity was such that the prospect of “Day Zero” — the day when municipal authorities would effectively cut water supply due to empty reserves, and residents would have to queue up for a daily ration of water — defined life in the city. This would have made Cape Town the first major city in the world to “run out” of water.
The crisis was caused by a prolonged period of below-average rainfall, resulting in a drought across the Western Cape. This resulted in the water levels in Cape Town’s reservoirs dropping significantly. A rapidly growing population, unplanned urbanisation, and inefficient water-use practices further strained the city’s water supply.
Fortunately, by September 2018 the scarcity had started to ease, and by 2020, things were back to normal.
The crisis in Bengaluru is caused by scanty rainfall in the Cauvery basin — which accounts for 60% of the city’s water supply — and the depletion of its groundwater reserves.
Like in Cape Town, Bengaluru’s water reservoirs have fallen to critically low levels due to this. For example, at the peak of the crisis, Cape Town’s Theewaterskloof Dam, the single largest source of water in the city, was filled to only 11.3% of its capacity. Currently, Bengaluru’s KRS Dam is filled to under 28% of its capacity.
According to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, of the city’s 13,900 public borewells, 6,900 have gone dry. Areas like Varthur, Marathahalli, Bellandur, Byrathi, Hoodi, Whitefield, and Kadugodi are completely dependent on water tankers to meet daily water needs.
Beyond low rainfall, rapid, unplanned urbanisation has played a significant role in the crisis in both Cape Town and Bengaluru.
In Cape Town, as the city expanded, existing water infrastructure (reservoirs, pipelines and treatment plants) struggled to keep up with demand. This strain then resulted in leaks and other problems, and led to inefficient water use. Moreover, as concrete covered increasing swathes of land, groundwater levels fell drastically, with replenishment not keeping up with consumption.
Bengaluru too has seen something similar. In the 1800s, the city had 1,452 water bodies, with roughly 80% of its area covered in greenery. Now, only 193 water bodies remain, and green cover is below 4%.
This is especially bad for East Bengaluru, which is dependent on groundwater. With tech parks, gated communities, and high- rise apartments covering the once green stretch of land, simply not enough water is percolating underground.
Water scarcity has drastically impacted the daily lives of citizens in Bengaluru, like it did in Cape Town. Restrictions have been imposed on water usage.
At the peak of Cape Town’s water crisis, citizens were allowed to use no more than 50 litres of water daily. The use of drinking water to wash vehicles, hose down paved areas, fill up private swimming pools, and water gardens was also declared illegal.
The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has brought in similar rules, banning the use of potable water for washing cars, gardening, swimming pools, construction activities, road maintenance, entertainment, etc. The board has announced a penalty of Rs 5,000 for violators.
Like in Cape Town, Bengaluru’s poor are the worst hit in the crisis, with increased health risks arising due to the lack of water for sanitation and hygiene purposes. Images of residents queuing up to collect water from public taps and tankers have dominated news in Bengaluru this year, just as they had during the Cape Town crisis.
BWSSB chairman Ram Prasath Manohar, however, said that Bengaluru is only facing a shortage of water, not a “crisis”. He said the situation would improve in the “next 15 days”. Measures have been taken to conserve water and reduce wastage, and only treated water is being used in construction, he said.
