Cauvery Stage V will be launched for public use by Dasara: D.K. Shivakumar

The much delayed Cauvery Stage V, a piped water supply project that brings Cauvery river water to 110 villages added to the city in 2007, will be finally dedicated to the public during Dasara. It was supposed to be launched in July, but the trial run delayed the commissioning of the project. 

Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who inspected the works of Cauvery Stage V across the city on Monday, announced that it will be commissioned in October. He said as many as nine Assembly constituencies in the outer zones of the city, including Mahadevapura, R.R. Nagar, Anekal, K.R. Puram, and others, will benefit from this project. 

The Cauvery Stage V draws 770 Million Litres per Day (MLD) from Cauvery river, adding up to 10 tmcft annually for supply of piped water to 110 villages. Currently, the city draws about 1,450 MLD of water from the Cauvery, while the demand for drinking water in the burgeoning city is pegged at 2,200 MLD. Initially conceptualised in 2012, work on the project began in 2018 with a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the tune of ₹5,500 crore. 

Three advanced booster pumping stations have been constructed at T.K. Halli, Harohalli, and Tataguni, allowing water to be pumped to an elevation of 450 m – roughly the height of a 50-storey building – through steel pipes ranging from 500 mm to 2,200 mm in diameter. These pipes cover a distance of approximately 110 km to deliver water to Bengaluru. The project required the use of 1,45,000 tonnes of steel and 2.4 crore man-hours to complete.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has also built a water treatment plant of 775 MLD capacity. In August, the BWSSB said it had nearly completed the trial run and the water had reached Tataguni. 

Meanwhile, the BWSSB launched a campaign on August 22 asking individual households in these 110 villages to avail individual connections. “Nearly four lakh households will benefit from Cauvery Stage V. But only 55,000 households have taken pipe connections. The rest will have to take connections soon to get piped water supply. After the total implementation of the project, we will stop supplying water through tankers,” said Mr. Shivakumar. 

Inspecting works on Monday, Mr. Shivakumar said that the project had faced several challenges and some bottlenecks were resolved, while the rest will be sorted out soon. “In Kengeri, the farmers initially refused to part with the land which has been now resolved by giving Transferable Development Right (TDR). Likewise, other problems will be resolved soon,” he said.

Published - September 23, 2024 08:52 pm IST