Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar received the official Guinness World Record certificate on behalf of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) on Wednesday.
A water conservation campaign the board took up from March 21 to 28, began with Cauvery Aarti at Sankey Tank, has set a record for maximum number of pledges (5.33 Lakh) to conserve water in a week.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Shivakumar said that the recent water hike taken up after over a decade was an attempt to reduce the losses to the board by about ₹500 crore annually. “We are still not able to break even. But we are trying to reduce losses,” he said, adding that still about 35% of the property owners are not paying bills regularly.
He further said that the State government was planning to supply the Cauvery water to 2 crore people in the Bengaluru region. “Presently, we are now providing water to newly added areas to BBMP in 2007-08 through Cauvery V Stage. There are about 50 lakh people around the city, to whom we are now planning to provide Cauvery water,” he said, referring to Cauvery VI Stage, for which a detailed project peport (DPR) is under way.
Mr. Shivakumar also pointed out that cities like Delhi had progressed to dual piping system, with drinking water and water for other purposes being supplied separately and said that Bengaluru should also tread the same path in the future.
Referring to objections to Cauvery Aarti at KRS dam, the Minister said that Mandya’s farmers were not fully informed of the event and said that he would soon hold a joint meeting with the district in-charge Minister to clear the air.
source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)