Bengaluru water crisis: Traffic islands, medians go dry in the 'garden city'

Amid a severe water crisis in Bengaluru, the contractors tasked with maintaining the plants on traffic islands, medians and circles in the city are faced with tough times. Grappling with the challenges of keeping these plants alive, they are unable to meet the required demand for water, officials said.

One can easily find bougainvillaeas and marigolds across most of the traffic islands, medians, and circles in Karnataka's capital city. “During summers, these plants require double the usual amount of water. However, our ability to meet this demand is hampered by acute water shortage," The Times of India quoted a senior official from BBMP’s horticulture department as saying.

However, authorities are unable to meet the required demands at the moment.

The official said they were "working tirelessly to provide a weekly dose of water to horticulture plants spread across the city”.

Due to the water crisis, contractors are facing losses regularly.

A contractor informed the national daily that borewells in Bengaluru have dried up. As a result, they are forced to rely on distant sewage treatment plants (STPs) for treated water.

"This, coupled with rising diesel prices, has made the task even more challenging," the contractor said.

As per the report, there are around 10 contractors involved in watering the plants in Bengaluru city.

Another one stated that earlier they used to water these green spaces daily, but now this has come down to once every three days.

"Fewer trips mean losses for us and we are losing ₹1 lakh every month," the contractor said.

Meanwhile, Lalbagh and Cubbon Park, maintained by the horticulture department, earlier used to get 15 lakh litres of treated water daily for the maintenance of trees.

However, the water levels in the borewells within these gardens have gone down drastically.

Speaking with The Hindu, M. Jagadeesh, Joint Director (Parks and Gardens), Horticulture Department, said that irrespective of how many times they water these trees and plants, the soil immediately dries up due to the scorching heat. “This has caused some withering. This concern can only be addressed by rains,” the official added.

Recently, a survey from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) highlighted that Bengaluru's urbanised area has expanded by 1055% since 1973.

From a mere 8%, it has gone up to 93.3% in 2023, it stated. This means that the city only has around 7% of the green cover left.