Government revives plan to draw water from Linganamakki dam

BENGALURU: To meet increasing demand for water in Bengaluru, the state government has taken out from cold storage the B.N. Thyagaraja committee report, and told officials to prepare a detailed project report (DPR).

The report, submitted in 2014, had suggested drawing 30 TMC of water from Linganamakki dam built across  Sharavathi river, around 400 km from Bengaluru.

After attending a meeting with various experts and BWSSB chairman Mr Tushar Girinath, Deputy Chief Minister Dr G. Parameshwar said, "As the city has grown leaps and bounds crossing 850 square kilometres it is increasingly difficult to cater to its drinking water needs. Even today there are many areas in the city which do not have piped Cauvery water supply. Once the Cauvery 5th stage is commissioned we cannot draw anymore water from the river. At present we are drawing 1,400 MLD of water.  In total from all of its stages, we can draw not more than 2,500 MLD."

This will not be enough to the increasing water demands of the city. We had to look beyond Cauvery. So we have taken up the Thyagaraja report on bringing water from Linganmakki, he explained.

"Once we have the DPR we will know the cost of the project. We can discuss on the challenges, environmental implications, opinion of locals etc" he said.

In the initial phase we are in the plan of pumping 10 TMC, Mr Parameshwar said. Replying to the question on the approximate cost, he said, "As per a rough estimate the project may need Rs 12,500 crore."

He further clarified that farmers will not be affected as the water from Linganmakki is not used for irrigation, but only for hydro power.

While the water experts and environmentalists want the government to focus on projects like rainwater harvesting and use of treated water for non potable needs, the government has not taken any concrete steps in this regard.