Water wars

Time of India

19-05-2025

R Edwin Sudhir, a Bengaluru-based journalist and writer, has the interesting privilege of living in a once-sleepy town which has morphed into a city fast-forwarding into a connected world but sadly disconnected with the ground realities of more people competing for shrinking space. The experience is oddly exhilarating yet often mildly alarming for long-time residents who see how technology has transformed a sleepy beantown into a bustling boomtown. And swept its residents too in the headlong rush to keep pace. LESS ... MORE
Around this time last year, Bengaluru was in dire straits on the water front. There was a crisis of never-seen-before proportions that the government was forced to issue advisories to residents to mandatorily install aerators and banned the use of potable water for gardening and washing cars, among other stern measures.
We somehow coped with the situation and survived until the monsoon brought welcome relief. And the trials and tribulations slowly became a bad memory and a story to tell grandkids.
Here we are, a year later, proving public memory is indeed short and ignoring multiple warnings that the next world war will be fought over water (that it may well be fought over data is another story). We waste water with not a thought for the future and make no effort to harvest rain water which gushes into the drains, or more often stagnates on the roads.
Anyone who has drilled a borewell recently will tell you how they've had to go deeper than ever before to strike water. The water table is getting lowered and it's not getting sufficiently, and rapidly, replenished. A recipe for disaster, and replay of the water woes of the summer of '24 is a distinct possibility.
So, why haven't we learnt our lesson and put in place measures throughout the year, not just summer? Perhaps it's because we moan and groan during tough times but don't prepare for bad times. It's a bit like war. As the old saying goes, the more you sweat during peace to remain fighting fit, the less you will suffer during conflict.
We waste water, little realising we need to wage an awareness battle for this precious resource.
Some are reminded of its importance every day. In Bengaluru, there are water-dispensing kiosks under the government's Bandhava scheme which offers purified drinking water, at a price of course, and those with dry taps at home go there regularly with 5-litre cans. Most come on two-wheelers which means they're also spending on fuel and adding to traffic on the roads. These kiosks are a reminder of the gravity of the problem and that they're only a band-aid solution to a gash that will open up again.
We perhaps need another 2024 crisis to shock us out of our complacency and do every little bit to save water. There are some organisations doing commendable work but it's obviously not enough. Maybe if some corporates with deep pockets use their CSR money for this exercise, and maybe if they target children, there's some hope. After all, the kids will be water-proofing their future.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.