Wakeup call: Bengaluru may soon run out of water

NEW DELHI: Is Bengaluru going to run out of water soon? Bengaluru is not far behind to face the threat of water crisis, like Cape town in South Africa.

Bengaluru ranks second in a list of 11 cities list, after Brazil Sao Paulo and above China capital Beijing, that are facing the imminent threat of running out of water based on an UN-backed study, published by the BBC. The other cities on the list are Cairo, Jakarta, Moscow, Istanbul, Mexico City, London, Tokyo and Miami.

The study found that the city’s infrastructure was unable to scale up to match rising population, particularly water and sewage systems. As a result, a large amount of water was either wasted or is too polluted to use.

The city of lakes does not have a single lake whose water is fit for human consumption, the study found. According to a report in The Guardian, Bangalore had 285 lakes in the 1970s, the number of which reduced to 194 lakes in 2017.

According to an estimate by the Asian Development Bank, India will have a water deficit of 50% by 2030. Other estimates have suggested that the people may evacuate the city by 2025.