Strict regulations now restrict the amount of potable water used for non-drinking reasons as Bengaluru’s water crisis worsens. However, these four Bengalurians are setting the standard with their creative fixes, demonstrating that every drop matters. #WaterProtect
Bengaluru prepares for a possible water crisis as summer draws near. The city has been forced to implement stringent water usage rules due to declining groundwater levels and erratic rains.
The use of potable water for non-drinking uses, such as cleaning roads, cars, and building sites, has been outlawed by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). In order to address the issue, authorities are pushing for alternate water saving measures, and violators risk a fine of Rs 5,000.
Despite these limitations, four Bengalurians have become trailblazers, developing cutting-edge techniques to save water and promote sustainable living.
Hariharan Chandrashekhar.
Planners and environmentalists Particularly among Bengaluru schoolchildren, Hariharan Chandrashekhar is an advocate for water conservation. Thousands of kids now have access to sustainable water sources thanks to the rainwater collection devices he has installed in many government schools through his Rain Reach Program.
In municipal schools, the program builds water reuse, sewage treatment, and rainfall harvesting systems. Students can monitor rainfall using digital meters and rain gauge weather stations. An astounding 34 million liters of water have been saved by 40 Bengaluru schools because to this program.
- Katrak, Odette
Dedicated supporters of the EcoWaternomics framework, including 60-year-old environmental activist Odette Katrak, support greywater recycling as a sustainable substitute. Odette, who is well-known for taking three-mug baths, claims that she has cut down her daily water usage from 75 liters to 3.6 liters.
Odette, the co-founder of Beautiful Bharat, a citizen-led initiative aimed at changing people’s mindsets on a systemic level, organizes a campaign to conserve water that includes a Minimum Water Challenge. Why hold off till there is a water crisis? Let’s use water with the same caution as we would if we had to bring it first. For every drop does matter!” she exclaims.
- Maheshwara Uma
For the past 13 years, water activist Uma Maheshwara has worked to make rainwater collecting a viable option for those living in Bengaluru. He has constructed more than 1,000 rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems throughout the city while working as a plumbing contractor for the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).
- The Global School of Sparkling Mindz
Sreeja Iyer is leading a group of Sparkling Mindz Global School pupils who are taking urban water conservation into their own hands. To find grassroots solutions to the water issue and floods, they are circling back and forth between questions and answers as part of their purpose, “TRUI: Tinker, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, Upcycle, and Innovate.”
These kids are ensuring that future generations prioritize water conservation by promoting a culture of responsible consumption from an early age by challenging young minds to think critically about water usage.
