In a move to incentivise conserving water in the city, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) will recognise and reward people for reusing and reducing consumption.
BWSSB is planning to give Bangalore Jala Rushi Puraskar (award) to institutions and private individuals on World Water Day which is celebrated on March 22. The awards will be given under categories of apartment complexes, individual houses, educational buildings, industrial setups, hostels and government offices.
The applications for the awards can be filed on the BWSSB official website (here), along with relevant photos. The deadline for applications is March 5.
However, the authority is yet to decide if there will be prize money or other rewards that will be given along with the award. BWSSB spokesperson Manjunath said that these details are yet to be finalised, and will be deliberated upon by the BWSSB and the state government.
The awards come even as conservation methods proposed by the BWSSB is yet to be enforced.
In the summer of 2019, Bengaluru had a hard time in meeting the water demands; suburban areas which are yet to get Cauvery connections have been living at the mercy of water tankers with borewells going dry. Even in 2018, during the acute water crisis at Cape Town in South Africa, Bengaluru featured in BBC’s list on ‘The 11 cities most likely to run out of drinking water’. However, this was argued against, and debunked too.
At present, 36% of Bengaluru’s water, which is drawn from the Cauvery, is unaccounted for. While 25% is wasted in leakages, another 11% is suspected to be in use without being billed.
In an event in Bengaluru in October 2019, Tushar Girinath, the BWSSB Chairman said a law was in the making to make it mandatory for all new and existing buildings in Bengaluru to install smart water meters on their premises. These water meters will be used to charge for water per individual usage instead of the current practice where the whole building is billed for the entire water consumption and residents pay uniformly. As part of the same prospective law, all new buildings being built on a 60x40 ft site or larger area will be mandated to have a rainwater harvesting facility with a minimum capacity of 60 litres.
An official said that while BWSSB has sent the proposal to the government to enact the law, but the latter is yet to take action.
According to a 2018 survey by BWSSB, close to 80,000 out of 1.76 lakh buildings in the city did not have rain water harvesting units.