BENGALURU: There’s fresh hope for Bengaluru, which is listed among the world’s major urban centres facing the prospect of running out of available water resources in the near future. The budget has proposed to bring “one more Cauvery to Bengaluru”.The scheme aims at increasing the flow in the fast-disappearing Arkavathy and Dakshina Pinakini rivers, by channelising available water resources from Bengaluru into them. This will be done by launching four programmes in the Bangalore Metropolitan Region aimed at harvesting water, rejuvenating ponds and waterbodies in the catchment area, collecting wastewater from houses and apartment complexes that may come up in the region using a separate pipeline and reusing/purifying water that doesn’t contain faeces or urine.If all these programmes are taken up, Bengaluru city will get around 1400MLD of additional water. Arkavathy and Dakshina Pinakini will be filled with life and “one more Cauvery will come to Bengaluru,” said the chief minister in his speech. A sum of Rs 50 crore has been proposed to take the necessary action through BMRDA and BDA by constituting a committee chaired by the CM.“This is the first time that an Indian city is thinking like this. If the wastewater entering these rivers is treated properly, it will help the hinterland and benefit farmers. This is the first time that treated wastewater will be used to revive these rivers, as earlier attempts were largely to do with desilting,” said water conservation expert S Vishwanath of the Biome Environmental Trust.On the BWSSB’s plans to provide Cauvery water to 110 villages in its outer zones, the CM said the scheme was at the “completion stage and would be completed by 2019-20”. A sum of Rs 500 crore has been allocated for the Cauvery Stage 5 water supply scheme for this year.“Bengaluru is slated to become the first city to have more than required capacity to treat all wastewater that it generates. This will help in reviving lakes as the untreated wastewater will no longer enter lakes, which is a major cause of pollution. A policy to reuse treated wastewater will reduce the pressure on potable water, and the revival of TG Halli and Hesaraghatta lakes for providing water supply to the city will reduce dependence on a single source,” said Mahendra Jain, additional chief secretary, urban development department.To tackle sewage-filled stormwater drains, work will be undertaken over the next two years at Rs 76.6 crore to close 914 entry points, where sewage mixes with rainwater in the drains.The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will also receive a grant of Rs 9 crore for establishment of 17 continuous water quality monitoring stations at the polluted waterbodies identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and 3 water quality monitoring stations at Bellandur, Varthur and Agara lakes.A tributary of Cauvery river, Arkavathy originates in Nandi Hills. Dakshina Pinakini originates in Nandi Hills and flows through Chikkaballapura, Hoskote , Malur and Kadugodi before heading into Sarjapur for about 100km.

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