2 Namma Bengaluru THE ECONOMIC TIMES | BENGALURU | FRIDAY | 2 DECEMBER 2016

Try This | Film show The Metro Rail Guy India Foundation for the Arts in collabo- City in Numbers @TheMetroRailGuy ration with Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM) presents BMRCL has finally invited bids the screening of docudrama, The Common Task. Directed by Pallavi Paul and Sahej RAINFALL to construct #Bangalore Metro’s Rahal, the 52-minute film explores the DEFICIENCY IN proposition of a one-way trip to Mars, con- BENGALURU 7.2km Reach1B between ducts a philosophical and scientific inquiry SINCE OCT 1 into the lives of two astronauts who want % Kundalahalli & Whitefield. to make this journey. At VITM, Kasturba 93 Road, on December 3 at 6 pm. Entry free.

Busy B Weekend Delights in Bengaluru FILM FESTIVAL The River is Dead, Tribute to Hrishikesh Long Live the River remarkable endeavour to Belluti lake, the base of revive a lost river has be- THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY the Dakshina Pinakini gun at Sidlaghatta, a Unchecked City-based Pickle Jar is organising a Atown about 60 km from three-day film festival to celebrate film- Bengaluru. The river, With a water crisis round the corner, maker Hrishikesh Mukherjee and the Dakshina Pinakini, could well save values portrayed in his movies. Clas- the city and its citizens from water it is high time Bengaluru looked for Groundwater sics like Anand, Abhimaan, Bawarchi, shortages. Satyakam, Khoobsurat and Chupke Originating in the Nandi Hills, alternative — and more sustainable A PROJECT Chupke will be screened from December the river flows through TO REVIVE 2 to 4 at NGMA (Palace Road) and Alli- Chikkaballapura, Hoskote, Malur, — sources of water. The Dakshina Use to Put City DAKSHINA ance Francaise (Vasanth Nagar). Prakash Kadugodi (with an ancient Kashi Belawadi and Chandan Gowda will de- Vishwanath temple that stands on Pinakini River Rejuvenation Project, PINAKINI bate Mukherjee’s body of work, while her banks here) and then onto Amol Palekar and Vikas Bahl will be Sarjapura for about 100 km. spearheaded by some of India’s in Dire Straits Tragically, the river runs dry till guests of honour, For more information, Malur. Here, the dead stream col- finest watershed experts, and the visit the Pickle Jar Facebook page. lects all the wastewater flushed revival of the Thippagondana Halli fter a BWSSB down Bengaluru’s drains before By Invite Aspecial council winding into Tamil Nadu near meeting which EVENT Hosur. reservoir provide Bengaluru an was convened a few Groundwork to revive the river days ago, the chair- A Hundred Hands Collective started from a field office near opportunity to look beyond the man of the nodal body Sidlaghatta ten months ago. responsible for pro- Watershed expert T Pradeep start- Cauvery for water. Bharath Joshi and Originates in the viding water to ed connecting drains on 4,700 hect- Nandi Hills Bengaluru an- ares of farmland, ending with the Nirupama V report nounced the city is Belluti lake, which is now the base heading towards a of the Dakshina Pinakini. Yelahanka Flows through Chikka- ‘water crisis’. Well, The damage that Bengaluru in- ballapura, Hoskote, Malur, KAVYA SHREE K the news is not sur- flicts seems irreversible. “No mat- Kadugodi and then onto prising especially af- ter how much watershed you do, Sarjapura ter the legal fight over the Cauvery waters between the every bit of water will go into re- Jakkur two states which was almost like two kids fighting for a charging borewells. Farmers here share of an already small piece of chocolate. have been digging borewells at It is been announced that the city will experience dis- 1,500ft. When it rains, all the water Runs dry till Malur. Here, it ruption in water supply between January and May 2017. goes into the empty spaces that Yele Mallappa collects wastewater flushed What is more amazing is that the BWSSB is now looking Organised by the nonprofit A Hundred borewells have created. The water Shetty lake down Bengaluru’s drains at groundwater as a substitute for the reduced supply Hands, the annual event promotes hand- table won’t rise,” he says. from the Cauvery. This move is even more unsustaina- made crafts and helps artisans earn a “Bengaluru is to blame for this be- ble compared to irregular supply from the Cauvery. sustainable livelihood. With collabora- cause it has created so much de- Bengaluru In 1950s, an economist by name Lionel Robbins said tion as the theme this year, 85 artists mand for fruit and vegetables that City economics is a science which studies human behaviour will display their work. At the United farmers have overexploited as a relationship between ends and scarce means which Theological College, near Jayamahal Pal- groundwater.” CLEAR THE have alternative uses. With respect to Bengaluru’s water ace Hotel, from 11 am to 8 pm. The event Pradeep now is trying to get farm- supply, the scarce means are surface water and ground- CHANNELS will be on till December 4. ers here to grow vegetables under a water. In the case of surface water, the total net water polyhouse by harvesting rainwa- At least 60% of water supply Bengaluru’s domestic sector receives after con- ter. “We want farmers to stop dig- sidering all sources including BWSSB’s most important ging borewells and let the water ta- Bellandur and Varthur and reliable source ‘the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme’ MUSIC WORKSHOP ble rise enough to get the river’s is 825 MLD (million litres a day). Learn from the Maestros base flow back.” lakes get is through On the other hand, the groundwater scene is not rosy as The Dakshina Pinakini River well. The most sustainable way of using groundwater is Rejuvenation Project, spearheaded Varthur Rajakaluves. If the entire to only extract water from the dynamic resource which by some of India’s finest watershed Bellandur is the fluctuating layer of the water table. According to experts, provides Bengaluru an op- ecosystem is not taken the Central Ground Water Board, the net available portunity to look beyond the groundwater in Bengaluru Urban — the water that can Cauvery for water, along with the up an Arkavathi and Kumudvathi care of by clearing the be extracted without using static resources (stagnant Thippagondanahalli reservoir on River Basin Conservation and encroachments, these water table) — is estimated to be around 1,67,690 million the city’s outskirts. Development Authority. Lakes in Yela- litres per year. But what is worrying is the yearly incre- The Cauvery’s emergence as the Authorities hope the rejuvenated hanka, Jakkur, lakes will soon run out of ment in the rate of consumption of groundwater which primary source of water for reservoir would hold 2.5 tmcft of Bellandur and is about 7%. Bengaluru dates back to the 1960s water. Varthur lake water. In effect, the To satisfy this increasing de- when BWSSB was created and At the same time, an expert com- mand, there is a huge increase IT’S A MAFIA and the Yele During the two-day music workshop, lakes were removed from local con- mittee constituted by the state gov- Mallappa Shet- Dakshina Pinakini channel in the number of bore-wells trol and put under government ernment on ways to rejuvenate the (5,000 to 4.08 lakh over the past There is abso- Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan bodies. Pumped from 100 km away, Bellandur lake has, in its final re- ty lake are in- has to be saved if these three decades) which have been will talk about how seasonal cycles are Bengaluru gets 1,392 MLD of port, stated that Bellandur and terconnected, dug in the city. Of this, 7,920 lutely no con- reflected in Hindustani music and dis- Cauvery — considered Asia’s cost- Varthur lakes would be developed all leading to two lakes are to survive bore-wells are owned and main- cuss the larger cultural context in which trol over the these songs emerged. They will teach liest water — four-fifths of which as a secondary source of water the Dakshina V RAMPRASAD, tained by the BWSSB. It is un- turns to sewage. supply for Bengaluru. Pinakini convenor, Friends of Lakes fortunate that due to overdraft private tanker select examples of seasonal long-forms The existing Cauvery water sup- The Bellandur lake, Varthur lake of available groundwater, the to participants. At The Jamun, RMV ply is far below the demand. Of the and a host of other lakes in the city water table has shrunk from mafia operat- Extension 2nd Stage, on December 3 1392 MLD, about half is lost in leak- are interconnected, all leading to Cauvery river basin. No one will project to supply drinking water to 100-120 metre (m) to about 76-91 and 4. For registration and more details, age or goes unaccounted for. “We the Dakshina Pinakini. “At least tell you that two-thirds of Bengaluru Rural and surrounding m in just two decades. This sig- ing in the city write to [email protected]. Any- can’t depend on the Cauvery be- 60% of water Bellandur and Bengaluru is in the Dakshina districts. nals Bengaluru’s groundwater one interested in music can apply. cause it can’t provide for more Varthur lakes get is through Pinakini basin.” For Water Resources Minister M abstraction has conveniently breached the dynamic than 60% of the city’s population. Rajakaluves. If the entire ecosys- The Dakshina Pinakini, also B Patil, who is fighting the fire on threshold indicating unsustainability. With changing rainfall patterns, tem is not taken care of by clearing known as the Dakshina Ganga, the Cauvery and Mahadayi river Another trend is that the extracted groundwater is not FESTIVAL Cauvery supply is dwindling,” IISc encroachments, these lakes will finds mention in Sangam and me- fronts, the Dakshina Pinakini is only used for domestic purposes but also being sold to ecologist TV Ramachandra says. soon run out of water. In effect, the dieval Thevaram-Bhakti era litera- not a priority. “Where’s the water commercial tankers, thereby creating a private unoffi- Third Coffee Santhe The Thippagondanahalli reser- Dakshina Pinakini channel has to ture where it is depicted as a river in that river,” he asks. “That’s why cial water market in the city. Since water is subsidised voir was built at the confluence of be saved if these two lakes are to rich with lush vegetation on its we are focusing on west-flowing for the domestic sector, the cost of water to private tank- Arkavathi and Kumudvathi rivers survive,” says V Ramprasad, con- banks. “There are pictures to show rivers. The Dakshina Pinakini is ers turns out to be meagre when compared to the price and was Bengaluru’s only major venor of Friends of Lakes. it had enough water until about dead.” they charge to the consumers. To top this, a single tanker source of potable water since the If the Dakshina Pinakini is re- 1980. The surge of borewells dur- Former BWSSB chairman BN does around 20-30 trips in a day. 1930s. Till recent years, the city vived, it can feed water to the ing the Ramakrishna Hegde gov- Thyagaraja agreed. “If Bengaluru And there are a number of water tankers which oper- consumed 125 MLD from its 1,453 southeast, northeast and east parts ernment — it was an age of ecolog- has to get any water, it must be only ate in the city. So the volume of groundwater abstracted sqkm catchment area. The state of Bengaluru. “We’re looking at ical innocence — punctured the from the west-flowing rivers. And is unthinkable. The more severe problem here is who al- government is now preparing to 400 million litres per day (MLD) to water table,” Hariharan says. waters of all those rivers come lowed them to abstract enormous amounts of water eve- rejuvenate the reservoir by setting the southeast, northeast and east The Dakshina Pinakini group is only to TG Halli.” ry day. Unfortunately, there’s nobody to take responsibili- Bengaluru, which are the most eco- also lobbying to have Bengaluru’s Another challenge faces ty neither for the menace created nor to regularise them. CAUVERY NOT ENOUGH nomically rich but ecologically 800 MLD of sewage pumped into Dakshina Pinakini: “Assuming we Only now there is some initiative taken by the authority poor parts of the city,” says the Kandavara lake in use treated sewage water to restart where the private water tankers are mandated to declare The Cauvery supply Chandrashekar Hariharan, who Chikkaballapur. which can be the river, do Bengalureans have the their source of water. This is not sufficient. There is need Coffee Santhe 2016 is the annual fund- heads Biodiversity Conservation treated and allowed to flow into the mindset to drink it? This isn’t for more stringent regulations and effective implementa- raising event organised by the Women’s is far below the de- India Limited. river’s dried-up basin. Experts Singapore,” water resources depu- tion to curb the illegal abstractions as there is a huge lob- Coffee Alliance to empower women Ironically, Cauvery towers over point out that this exercise — enor- ty secretary Anil Marali says. by involved in the private water market. Hope the author- coffee plantation workers. The fair will mand. Of the 1392 all other rivers in the Kannada mous as it may sound — would cost The present situation is grim. ity takes note of the situation before it’s too late. have handcrafted coffee, games, music MLD, about half is mindscape. Water expert S only about Rs 200 crore as against Only 7 lakh households out of 22 and dance. At the Karnataka Chitrakala Vishwanath says: “Ask anyone and the Rs 13,000 crore the government lakh in the municipal limits have (The author is an economics faculty at Parishath, from December 02 to 04, from unaccounted for they’ll say Bengaluru is in the wants to spend on the Yettinahole Cauvery water supply. Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru) 11.30 am to 7.30 pm. Entry free If I were a Dictator, I would Scrap the Steel Flyover Project HIGH-FIVE WITH Wh a t m a k e s B e n g a l u r u a double benne masala dosa and hot School and Srishti School of Art, 1 tick? filter coffee after a 25-km run! Design and Technology. She has taught The people, for sure. They are chilled- thousands of students and it has been SIDDHARTH out and unpretentious and yet you’ll If you were the dictator of an honour to have had her as my high MANGHARAM, always be able to have an intelligent 3 Bengaluru, what is the first school teacher. I’m glad to say that we conversation with them on topics thing you would do? have been in regular touch over the CO-FOUNDER, FLOH.IN that range from music, art and beer, I would make chopping of trees a past 30 years. to technology and business. The non-bailable offence that attracts concentration of great educational a prison sentence equivalent to the If not Bengaluru, which institutions combined with excellent 5 city? Why? weather has attracted the brightest CENTRES OF EXCELLENCES Seattle. The city has a similar relaxed minds to our city. charm, with a high concentration of Great educa- very friendly and smart people. The 2 What is your favourite tional institu- age of the tree that was cut. I would Who is your favourite outdoor scene, especially the moun- Bengaluru moment? also scrap the steel flyover project 4 Bengalurean? Why? taineering and running communi- A CANDID CHAT Going for a long run on Sunday from tions like IISc as well as any other ridiculous plan Geetha Narayanan. Her contributions ties, ensure that you will be in great ABOUT WHAT MAKES Koramangala to the World Trade (shown right) have to build hideous structures that to the city are numerous and include shape all your life. BENGALURU A Centre and ending at Indian Coffee require the chopping of thousands founding two world-class educational FAVOURITE CITY House on Church Street. Nothing beats attracted the brightest of trees. institutes – Mallya Aditi International [email protected]