Find sources to augment drinking water supply in industrial areas, Minister tells officials

Bengaluru, Feb 5 (PTI) Karnataka's Minister for Large and Medium Industries M B Patil held a meeting on Monday with officials of various departments to find effective solutions to mitigate the shortage of drinking water supply in various industrial areas of the state.

Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge and officials of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board and Rural Water Supply Department participated in the meeting convened at Khanija Bhawan.

Patil noted that the industrial areas of Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapura, Tumakuru and Kolar districts are facing severe drinking water shortage. Further, the Dharwad industrial area requires 45 MLD of drinking water every day, he said, which can be supplied from the Hidkal reservoir.

Likewise, the Vijayapura industrial area also needs to be supplied with the same amount of drinking water from the Krishna Reservoir daily. Kalaburagi industrial area requires 7 MLD of drinking water from the Krishna and Bhima rivers, the Ballary industrial area needs 13 MLD from the Tungabhadra dam, and the Raichuru industrial area needs 13 MLD from the Krishna river, he stated.

The Industries minister expressed concern that the state's industrial growth would suffer if a solution is not found. "Put together, all the above districts require a total of 290 MLD of water daily," he noted.

"The industrial areas of Tumakuru, Bengaluru, Kolar, and Chikkaballapura located in the Old Mysuru region have already been using treated wastewater for industrial purposes. However, there is a severe shortage of drinking water in these places. Hence, the availability of volume of water and sources from which it can supplied needs to be identified and another meeting would be held in this regard in a week or so,” Patil said.

Supply of drinking water to industries is a primary responsibility and it is one of the basic facilities necessary for the growth of industries in the state, he added. PTI AMP ANE