3. Existing and Potential Water-Related Problems in Bangalore Groundwater Depletion

With around 14 million residents and growing, perhaps one of the most desperate problems facing Bangalore is the fast depletion of groundwater supplies. The city’s rapid expansion over the last few decades, with little regard for water management, has led to hundreds of thousands of private, unregulated wells popping up across the city. Even these private wells have become unreliable due to dropping water tables, so many are drilled to depths of 1500 feet or more. The unchecked pumping of groundwater from these wells, little to no groundwater infiltration from compaction and impervious surface expansion, and irregular monsoon patterns occurring due to climate change have all contributed to depletion of water supply for Bangalore (Cave, 2024).

The above graphic shows the land use change throughout Bangalore over the past five decades. Almost all of the city has been converted to the built, urban environment, leaving little to no surface area for water infiltration, and no flow channels for runoff to leave the urban areas. Another problem exacerbating the groundwater recharge crisis is the drainage and filling of natural and man-made wetlands that existed throughout the city, before its rapid growth period. Over 200 lakes existed in Bangalore a few decades ago, with greater than half having been filled and drained for construction or dried up as of spring 2024 (Sankar, 2024). Little to no groundwater recharge is able to occur without these natural and manmade waterbodies. It is estimated that with current population trends, 40% of the groundwater supplying Bangalore’s residents and businesses will be dry by 2100 (Arusu, 2024). This staggering statistic underscores the importance of government intervention as well as implementation of proper restoration efforts to stave off groundwater scarcity.

Lack of Public Water Services

The Cauvery River, a whopping 62 miles south of Bangalore, supplies a large portion of the city’s water, at a cost of around 75% of the city water service’s budget (Cave, 2024). The energy required to pump large amounts from such a long distance is expensive, as well as impractical as the city continues to grow. The city, as of March 2024, was operating on around a 500mld deficit out of its 2,700mld need. An increased need will need to come from the already politicized Cauvery River in order to avoid more shortages (The Economic Times, 2024). Secondary to the problem of the looming water scarcity, much of the city, including commercial and residential buildings, are not connected to any public water or sewer lines. Many rely on privatized tanker trucks to fill jugs for their families (Cave, 2024). These trucks have been known to take days to get to calls for water supplies as well as price gouge customers due to increased demand in hotter months (Cave, 2024).

Urban Flooding

Flooding continues to be a concern for Bengaluru, which has the highest flood risk throughout Southern India (Jahnavi, 2024). Although extreme weather events (including stronger summer monsoons) are predicted to become more common, the lack of urban water infrastructure is undoubtedly the driving factor behind flooding problems for Bangalore. Since the city can commonly see large rainfall events in short periods of time, the excess stormwater runoff becomes trapped within the city from lack of water storage and drainage systems from overdevelopment (Negi, 2022). The hundreds of previously existing lakes and wetland systems provided buffers during rain events, many of which are now drained and developed. Not only do these floods wreak havoc on daily life and become public health crises, they can lead to rapid displacement of millions of Indian citizens (Negi, 2022). The flooding crisis is difficult to address without creation of natural infiltration ponds and lakes, as well as a larger, updated sewer system to allow for flow of water into nearby basins.

Conclusion

There are no easy solutions for Bangalore to solve these wicked problems. Rapid population growth and urbanization on top of water shortages is leading to an unprecedented crisis for the city of left unaddressed. In the next section, we aim to go over some possible solutions being implemented to relieve Bangalore citizens and create resilience to looming water shortages and flood problems.

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References

Photo 1: TV Ramachandra, Bharath H Aithal, Vinay S. Tulika Mondal, Abhishek Baghel. Bangalore Urban Information System.

Photo 2: Loke, A. (2024, March 31). India’s Silicon Valley Faces a Water Crisis That Software Cannot Solve. The New York Times. Retrieved 30 July, 2024 from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/31/world/asia/india-bangalore-water.html

Photo 3: Murali Kumark https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/bengaluru-most-vulnerable-to-urban-flooding-imd-data/article67878838.ece

Arusu, S. (2024 March 16). India’s Bengaluru is fast running out of water, and a long, scorching summer still looms. Associated Press. Retrieved 31 July 2024 from https://apnews.com/article/bengaluru-water-crisis-climate-change-india-17554235dba0741a266f2251b91aec8f Cave, D. (2024, March 31). India’s Silicon Valley Faces a Water Crisis That Software Cannot Solve. The New York Times. Retrieved 30 July, 2024 from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/31/world/asia/india-bangalore-water.html

Jahnavi, T. R. (2024, March 1). Bengaluru most vulnerable to urban flooding: IMD data. The Hindu. Retrieved 31 July 2024 from https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/bengaluru-most-vulnerable-to-urban-flooding-imd-data/article67878838.ece

Negi, K. (2022, Sep 16). What Bengaluru floods 2022 taught us about increasing threat of urban flooding in India. Carbon Impacts. Retrieved 31 July 2024 from https://carbonimpacts.info/article/what-bengaluru-floods-2022-taught-us-about-increasing-threat-of-urban-flooding-in-india

Sankar, A. (2024 March 22). Bengaluru’s water math is badly failing as ‘zero water days’ loom large. Question of Cities. Retrieved 31 July, 2024 from https://questionofcities.org/bengalurus-water-math-is-badly-failing-as-zero-water-days-loom-large/

The Economic Times. (2024 March 21). A hope for Bengaluru's water crisis: All about Cauvery Phase 5 project and expected supply date. Retrieved 31 July 2024 from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/india-news/a-hope-for-bengalurus-water-crisis-all-about-cauvery-phase-5-project-and-expected-supply-date/articleshow/108607895.cms?from=mdr