And now, water from Linganamakki

Well, after years of talks, hundreds of seminars, innumerable workshops and also years of  hibernation and inertia,  things are seeming to move towards providing drinking water supply to Bangalore. And this is to augment the Cauvery water supply that Bangalore receives every day.

Bangalore has always been a water scare city and right from its inception, it has faced problems of water supply. But it is only recently that the water scarcity has assumed herculean proportions and several areas have had to go without water.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which looks after the water supply to Bangalore, has been trying for several years to locate alternate water sources to fulfill the thirst of Bangaloreans. It has found the Cauvery inadequate to meet the water needs and there has been several surveys and technical reports on augmenting the water supply.

A few days ago, an expert committee constituted by the BWSSB, formed in 2010 to identify both long and short term solutions to the growing water demand in the City, has now identified Linganmakki as an alternate and more than adequate source to fulfill the water needs of Bangalore.

This panel was constituted by the then BJP Government and it consists of nine members. The report of the panel has not so far been made public though it is ready.
The report of the nine-member panel has zeroed in on Linganmakki in Sagar taluk of Shimoga district as Bangalore’s answer for the much searched alternative.
Linganamakki is the one of the biggest reservoirs in Karnataka and it has a capacity to store151 tmc (thousand million cubic) feet of water with an annual inflow of 181 tmc.
This is just six kilometers away from the world famous Jog Falls and it is built across the Sharavati river.  It was constructed in 1954 and the dam has a length of 2.4 kms.

The dam was initially designed to impound 4368 million cubic meter of water in an area of around 300 km², submerging 50.62 km² of wetland and 7 km² of dry land, with the remaining being forest land and wasteland.

The dam has a height of 1,819 feet (554 m) and it mainly receives water from the Chakra and Savahaklu reservoirs, which are linked to it through a canal.

The water from the Linganamakki flows to Talakalale Balancing Reservoir through a trapezoidal canal with a discharge capacity of 175.56 m³/s. The length of this channel is about 4318.40 metres with a submersion of 7.77 km². It has a catchment area of about 46.60 km².

Behind the dam is a large reservoir. The discharge from the dam can be quite heavy. When the dam's sluice gates are closed upstream from Jog Falls, it is possible to walk down into the fall's ravine.

The committee has suggested laying of  pipelines for about 100 km from Linganamakki to Yagachi dam in Hassan district. These pipelines could easily draw 50 tmc feet of water. A problem here is that the pipelines would have to be routed through forests and environmentalists may not take kindly to this.

Once the water reaches Yagachi dam, water will flow through gravity for nearly 50 km to reach Bangalore city. The BWSSB says this water can not only be supplied to Bangalore but also to neighbouring Kolar, Ramanagara, Chikkaballapur and Chitradurga. 

Apart from this project, the BWSSB committee has also proposed a reservoir at Mekedaatu in Kanakapura taluk of Ramanagara district. It says this water can be used for irrigation and agriculture purposes. However, this is unlikely to be a smooth issue as Tamil Nadu has already voiced its opposition to any water retention project on the Cauvery.

The committee has also said that water can be drawn from Lakshmanateertha river to Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dam near Mysore in Mandya district which would store the water and later release it to Bangalore. This too is unlikely to be easy as Tamil Nadu would fight for what its perceives its rightful share of impounded water in the KRS.
It would, therefore, appear that the best alternate sources if Linganmakki. The committee itself  has estimated that the project cost would be in the range of Rs 100 crores and that it can be completed in three years.

The committee has also proposed that more water be drawn from the Cauvery basin, within the framework of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal award.
Apart from these recommendations, the committee has also come up with measures to plug leakages in Bangalore, reduce unaccounted water, enforce dual pipeline system and replace old pipes.

As of now, the water wastage in Bangalore is as high as 48 per cent and the committee has said urgent steps are needed to bring it down to 16 per cent or less.