Bengaluru celebrates dry Holi amid acute water crisis, govt warnings

livemint.com:

waterless Holi on Monday. The Holi event organizers made complete use of colors to organize various activities and complied with the administration's call to refrain from rain dances and water-based activities during the events. The development comes as the Bengaluru civic authority already collected ₹1.1 lakh as a fine from Bengaluru residents for using Cauvery water for non-essential purposes.

The BWSSB has issued strict instructions against the use of drinking water for non-essential purposes. BWSSB has identified the critical population of Bengaluru and informed that the groundwater level has reduced in the city due to rains. The board cautioned against the rising temperature and emphasized the importance of saving drinking water.

“About 1.4 crore population has been identified in Bengaluru including permanent residents and those who are in transit. The supply of drinking water to all is essential. At present, the temperature is rising in the city every day, and the groundwater level has decreased due to the lack of rain in recent days.

As a result, it is necessary to prevent wastage of water in the city and it has been made necessary for the public to use drinking water sparingly," the order said. While explaining the dire situation in the city, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that out of the 14,000 borewells in Bengaluru, 6,900 have dried. He added that the administration is facing a shortage of at least 500 million liters of water per day (MLD).