Anil Agarwal Dialogues
Safeguarding Rivers and Watersheds
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Case Study of Bangalore
Leo F. Saldanha
Environment Support Group
1572,, Sapthagiri,
p g , Outer Ring
g Road,, Banashankari 2nd Stage,
g , Bangalore
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560070
Tel: 91-80-26713559/60 Email: [email protected]
Web: www.esgindia.org
Revering Cauvery, Celebrating life
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Kings bequeathed land along Cauvery’s banks to attract ’ b k
the best talent into their cities.
Her waters fertilise fields and forests, and is a lifeline to millions.
millions
Countless temple towns that grace her shores exemplify
grace her shores exemplify how deeply she is revered everywhere she flows.
Replete with life, memories and stories, she is the very River of Life.
Cauvery's waters
The many tributaries that augment Cauvery’s flow , p ,
include Kabini, Kapila, Hemavathy, Shimsha, Lokapavani, Arkavathy, Bhavani and many others.
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Each of these tributaries d
draw waters from an t f
intricate and extensive network of tanks built over th
the centuries.
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The river thus provide water The
river thus provide water
for farming, urban and industrial needs.
Cauvery Basin spreads acros four
southern States
Bengaluru is within the Cauvery Watershed
Greater Bangalore Watershed
Vrishabhavathi:
Vrishabhavathi:
A Dying
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Sacred origins of Vrishabhavathi
Sacred origins of Vrishabhavathi
An inscription on the 17th
century Nandi mentions the t
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Bull Temple in Bangalore as the source of this river.
Vrishabhavathi, (Vrishaba, Bull) it is claimed, flows Bull),
it is claimed flows
underground for a while before emerging as a proper rivulet.
That flow now, hardly That
flow now hardly
resembles living waters .
Birth place of Vrishabhavathi in today’s Basavanagudi, Bangalore
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Kempabudhi tank, once fed rain that it h d h d
had gathered into Vrishabhavathi
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Revering Vrishabhavathi's splendour?
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Sri Vyasaraya of Channapattana,
philosopher saint and Rajguru of
philosopher-saint
the Vijayanagar Empire, was
enamoured by Vrishabhavathi's
grandeur.
grandeur
In reverence and awestruck, he
established Gali Anjaneya temple
in 1425 at the convergence of
Vrishabhavathi with Suvarnamukhi
south west of Bengaluru.
Today, the river is full of
Bangalore's
Bangalore
s sewage
sewage, which
seasonally spills into the temple.
Vrishabhavathi's banks are heavily urbanised and industrialised
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Dark, Heavy, Toxic
Vrishabhavathi’s Waters Now!
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Vrishabhavathi or Vishabhavathi? Vrishabhavathi once breathed life to the
breathed life to the region. Now it is tragically called
tragically called Vishabhavathi ‐ a poisonous river
poisonous river.
Its putrefying, dying waters carry Bangalore's refuse, which then feed hi h h f d
Arkavathy.
Vrishabhavathi passes through Sewage Treatment Plants in South Bangalore
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A costly cleanclean-up that has not
delivered
Largely untreated waters of Vrishbhavathi enters Byramangala tank which irrigates vegetable gardens, orchards, paddies, ragi g
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and sugarcane fields, and also recharges ground water
Byramangala Tank – heavily polluted and a major public health concern d
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A large bird population feed off these toxic waters
Vrishabhavathi Ground Water
Averages from 30 Samples
Vrishabhavathi flows dark and toxic for miles and miles
Vrishabhavathi, joins Arkavathy a major drinking water source for Bangalore which then joins Cauvery near Kanakapura, south of Bangalore
Growing migration to g
cities from along these rivers
Pollution of rivers is making f
farming increasingly difficult l d ff l
all along these rivers.
Low yields and crop failures and overall farming distress d
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from along these rivers is causing massive migration into cities
into cities.
In parallel, mega urban‐
industrial projects are disrupting lives and
disrupting lives and livelihoods of thousands.
A river system that nurtured generations now needs
generations, now needs nurturing.
Aren't Cities overreaching their environmental limits
environmental limits
A city's ambition is quite independent of its environmental limits. Can this growth be sustained?
Bangalore's sprawl at the cost
of water security
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Lifting Cauvery to quench Bangalore'ss quench Bangalore
thirst
Cauvery water is supplied to C
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Bangalore from 100 kms. away and lifted over 500 metres
and lifted over 500 metres head.
This demands enormous
This demands enormous investment of energy and infrastructure.
Cauvery waters meet needs of half the city's populus. Rest depend on ground water, much of which is polluted.
1 crore li
live in
i Bangalore
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today
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Bangalore
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Water
W t Resources
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Water Economics for
Bangalore
Blore Water Supply Demand
Conundrum
Cauvery: Perpetually
ll in
i Dispute?
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Can Kabini, Cauvery’s tributary,
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Thermal Power
sustain a Super
Station?
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3.9 TMC of Kabini
water
allocated by
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Karnataka
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for a slew of thermal
power plants in
Chamalapura
near Mysore
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How
much
h water
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Kabini?
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Canal
l Withdrawals
Withd
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K
Kabini
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K bi i Water
Kabini
W t Utilisation
Utili ti