The South Indian state, Karnataka is facing a severe water crisis for the fourth consecutive season as less than 20% water is left in 9 of Karnataka’s 12 dams. The situation is getting worse in the state as we are heading towards the cropping season and even the IT city of Bengaluru may face a drinking water crisis by May. Currently, 160 of 176 taluks in Karnataka have been declared drought-hit while the rainfall has come down by 40-70% between August and December bringing down the agricultural production to half.
Last year, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) predicted this situation in Bengaluru by throwing some horrifying numbers. The study revealed that the IT city has lost 79% of its water bodies and there has been an increase of 925% increase in concretisation. It revealed that 75% of city land paved while 98% lakes have been encroached upon. Along with the administration, the study also raised questions over the citizen by revealing that while 1.4 lakh consumers should instal rainwater harvesting systems, only 62,000 have it.
The Bangalore water predicts that it will need 200 additional water tankers to meet the demand over the next months. Along, with this 100 new bore wells are set to be dug in this month alone. However, one of the major reasons for the water crisis in Bengaluru is the toxic nature of local water bodies and lakes. Learning that the ground water is not of drinkable quality, most citizens don’t use bore wells.
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