Thread by @rajbhagatt

Here's a compilation of my #maps which can help you in understanding the #Bengaluru #Water situation a bit better.

Bengaluru is unofficially a hill station which is located nearly a kilometre above sea level.

Being in the top of a ridge line, the city is partly within Kaveri watershed and partly in Ponnaiyar (Dakshina Pinakini watershed).
Being on top, water from elsewhere dont flow through Bengaluru but flow outward from the city

Bengaluru right now depends on Kaveri river for water supply. Because of its height, Water is pumped for a height of 1000 feet from the river 100km away from the city

But, The Kaveri watershed is one of the most over exploited river system in India. Thousands of water diverting and storage structures make it possible to exploit in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which share the river

Most of the water in Kaveri watershed is used for Agricultural purposes.

Basically, the expenditure is pretty high and the income however oscillates.

Which means, except few years of excessive rainfall/flooding in upstream, most of the years the region faces water shortage

And remember, Bengaluru can't demand a lot of water from Kaveri also as only a part of the city is in watershed though the entire city is dependent on it (along with ground water & tankers)
In map, we can notice significant part of BBMP(marked in black) is not in Kaveri watershed

But most of the bigger development in Bengaluru is happening outside Kaveri watershed in the South East(ECity), East (Whitefield), and North (Airport)

This unbridled and unbalanced growth has put immense pressure on Bengaluru. Bengaluru is 10x larger than the next city in Karnataka. Increasingly the population and economy is skewed towards Bengaluru with people migrating from all the states & from other districts of Karnataka

In short:
1. Kaveri is over exploited, requires conservation in all sectors (primarily agriculture) by both Karnataka & Tamil Nadu. Any year with average or less than average rainfall would result in drought /watercrisis not just for Bengaluru. This requires research & investment

2. Bengaluru is over grown considering it's geography and it is imperative that the growth across the country and within the state to be diversified to next tier cities and this would require investments in the same directiom

3. Bengaluru can't depend on Kaveri river alone coz of the risk involved. Failure of rainfall upstream last season is leading to the crisis this year. The city hence has to judiciously use the water it has (conserve), utilise the rainfall within city (harvest), & reuse wastewater

Before grilling Bengaluru on social media, please note that these issues of environment (flood, water crisis etc.) arising from poor planning and lack of geographical understanding, exist in most major metros across the country. Bengaluru is just reported better!

It is hence important for us as citizens (of not just Bengaluru), to focus on the processes that govern our planning, the methods through which we execute them, our pattern of growth, awareness etc.

Forgot to add this:
~97% of Indians live at an elevation lower than that of Bengaluru

And if you're at it, here's is my take on the geography of the city and the urban flooding issues it faces as presented in an event hosted by the Bangalore Room