Daily demand for 290 million litres of drinking water Supply of drinking water to industrial areas: Minister calls for speedy action

Bengaluru: Heavy and Medium Industries Minister MB Patil held a meeting with various departments here on Monday and discussed finding effective solutions to solve the drinking water problem faced by various industrial areas of the state. Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge was also present.

Officials of BWSSB, Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board and Rural Water Supply Department participated in the meeting convened at Khanija Bhawan.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that the industrial areas of Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapurs, Tumkuru and Kolar districts are facing severe drinking water problems. Further, the Dharwada industrial area requires 45 MLD of drinking water every day that can be supplied from the Hidkal reservoir. Likewise, the Vijayapura industrial area also needs to be supplied with the same amount of drinking water from the Krishna Reservoir daily. Kalaburagi industrial area needs 7 MLD of drinking water from the Krishna and Bhima rivers, the Ballary industrial area needs 13 MLD from the Tungabhadra dam, and the Raichuru industrial area needs 13 MLD from the Krishna river, he explained.

Expressing concern about the problem he said, "Put together all the above districts require a total of 290 MLD of water daily. If the required water supply is not ensured, the industrial growth of the state will suffer."

The industrial areas of Tumkuru, Bengaluru, Kolara, and Chikkaballapura located in the Old Mysuru region have already been using treated wastewater for industrial purposes. However, there is a severe shortage of drinking water in these places. Hence, the availability of volume of water and sources from which it can supplied needs to be identified and another meeting would be held in this regard in a week or so, Patil added.

Supply of drinking water to industries is a primary responsibility and it is one of the basic facilities necessary for the growth of industries in the state, he opined.