In 2016, when the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) laid pipelines to supply the Cauvery water, residents of Ambedkar Nagar in Whitefield breathed a sigh of relief, in the hope that they would finally get safe drinking water. But what they have been getting promptly for the past eight years are water bills, and not water.
Back to square one
As usual, the residents of this Dalit colony, which has over 2,000 houses, are left to fend for themselves, while the BWSSB erratically supplies water pumped from public borewells via tankers. About two months ago, when the area faced an acute water crisis, the BWSSB set up 1,000-litre tanks in a few streets. Each family gets only five pots of water when the tank is filled. The free tanker water arrives once a week or sometimes once in 14 days, say residents.
Lakshmi S. (name changed), talking to The Hindu, said that she has been living in the colony for more than a decade and everyday it is “a circus” to get water. “Those who have money buy water from tankers and others depend on a nearby private domestic borewell, whose owner also charges money,” she said. As the demand for water is high with no houses in her street having borewells, this borewell also cannot fully cater to the need, she added.
High hopes
“When they laid the pipelines, everyone in the colony thought their water woes had finally ended. Unfortunately, even after eight years, we have not received a single drop of water,” she rued.
N.M. Gopal, another resident of the colony, said although the families are not getting water through the pipes, the bills are being dispatched by the BWSSB every month. “Each resident gets a basic bill of ₹100. As the residents are not supplied water, bills have not been been paid and the amount has accumulated to about ₹1 lakh,” he said.
Issues of terrain
Mr. Gopal said the BWSSB is maintaining that as the region is hilly, water is not climbing up and a booster has to be installed. “But the BWSSB has not implemented this,” he said.
When contacted, BWSSB chairman V. Ram Prasanth Manohar said he was not sure as to why residents are getting bills. He, however, promised to resolve the problem within a week.