Bengaluru facing acute water shortage is old news. What is new is that the Karnataka government may think of putting a ban of five years on the construction of new flats due to the water crisis. A statement related to this was made by the Deputy Chief Minister of the state, G Parameshwara.
At present, many buildings are being constructed in the IT city and the builders are not seriously giving any attention to such basic amenities that are required by the residents, said Parmeshwara.
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Growing Population & Severity Of Drought Leading To Water Scarcity
Parmeshwara said, “Traffic and facilities cannot be regulated. In large constructions with about 3,000 flats, there is an equal number of vehicles but approach roads are not provided. In terms of drinking water, it is brought from some lake and given to the people, without checking if it is clean or not. Some people have complained that they are getting skin diseases because of this.”
The minister further added, “This is the reason we are thinking of enforcing a five-year ban on new apartment constructions.” At present, Karnataka is facing a severe drought and due to the delayed monsoon, the condition has worsened further. Moreover, the population of Bengaluru has also escalated in a big way in the last 30 years. The population has increased to 12 million from 9.6 million in 2011 as per the records of the Census.
The Deputy Chief Minister said, “We will discuss the issue with builders and developers before taking a decision. We are planning to clamp a five-year ban (on approvals for construction) mainly because a large number of apartment buildings have been constructed in the city and sold to people without ensuring adequate drinking water supply.”
Scrutiny Of All Buildings In The City Must
Apart from water shortage, proper disposal of sewage and waste is also a major issue. Parameshwara is planning to ask the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to find out whether all the buildings in Bengaluru have sewage treatment plants installed for making better use of the available water resources or not.
In his response to this proposal from the Karnataka minister, the spokesperson of BJP, S Prakash said, “The question is what was the government doing when developers flouted the rules in this manner. How were no objection certificates issued to these projects? In the absence of any concrete steps, this threat seems to be a means to negotiate with the builders.”
