Hello everyone, and welcome to Wenxin's view of the world
Bangalore is known as the "Silicon Valley of India". Located in the south of India, this city of innovation has been home to the world's tech giants, home to world-class technology companies, and thousands of IT elites, contributing a steady stream of wisdom and impetus to the global digitalization process. But lately the city has been in a bit of trouble, and that is water.
With the sudden reduction of half of the water supply, this bustling city was plunged into an unprecedented water shortage. Water trucks are no longer a strange sight, but have become a lifeline for the residents, who spend half of their income on water, but the bi-weekly water supply cycle is a drop in the bucket.
Water supply has plummeted, and life is struggling – the struggle for survival for the residents of "Silicon Valley".
According to the local Water and Sewerage Commission, Z Xi V. Ram Prasat Manohar, the city's water supply has dropped by an alarming 50 percent in the past week. What does this mean? A glass of water a day has become half a glass a day? This sudden change has broken the peaceful and orderly rhythm of life of the citizens of Bangalore.
The authorities had to send water trucks to alleviate the crisis, but the frequency was not very high, only once every two weeks, which was like a regular salvation that hundreds of families were looking forward to. Suhira, who lives on the outskirts of Banderpalya, knows this well: "When the water truck comes, everyone has to squeeze their heads for water. For the water, for the queue will be noisy. But what can we do? We need water, and we're at the end of our rope. Her words are full of frustration and anxiety, which is what many families in Bangalore are saying.
Citizens of Bangalore
In order to save water, the local government has really come up with various tricks, first encouraging residents to take a shower once every two days. The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and India is still a hot and humid South Asian region, so you don't let him take a bath? In addition to bathing, the authorities are also promoting the use of disposable utensils and avoiding washing clothes and dishes as much as possible to reduce the demand for water.
Citizens of Bangalore
As summer draws closer, Bangalore's water crisis seems to be getting worse. Climatologists at the Center for Ecological Sciences, T· V. Ramachandra warned that the water crisis will worsen as temperatures rise. (I know it without the experts.) ）
The Death of Lakes, Ecological Imbalance – Urban Expansion and Natural Pains
Bengaluru was once a beautiful city with many lakes and a city of gardens, providing a constant supply of water for its residents. But by the early 90s of the 20th century, when Bangalore became India's tech hub, real estate developers began to destroy the original ecological boundaries. Forests have been cut down on a large scale, lakes have been fenced and filled, and high-rise buildings and wide asphalt roads have been struck.
Bengaluru now
The once green lobes have been torn apart, the demise of lakes and the shrinking of forests have contrasted sharply with urban sprawl, and the former "garden city" has been labeled as a "concrete jungle" overnight.
As real estate developers sprawl in a disorderly manner, they greedily encroach on forests and cut down trees to make more land for residential and commercial facilities. The main reason is that the lakes are filled or enclosed for the construction of residential complexes and shopping malls, so that the precious natural resources that were originally stored for flood control, climate regulation and water supply are gone. The demise of the lake has directly led to a decrease in groundwater recharge and increased pressure on urban water supply, which has become a direct cause of the water crisis in Bangalore.
Low-income communities struggle to survive on a daily basis, and the middle class is also affected"
You can imagine that you wake up thirsty and want to go to the faucet to get a glass of water, but you find that there is not a drop of water in your faucet, and you have to rely on a water truck to wash your face and cook. This is the reality of life for some residents of Bangalore, India's "Silicon Valley".
In Bande Paglia, a low-income community in the south of Bangalore, people line up first thing in the morning to fetch water, and at 9 a.m. people hold buckets in their hands and line up in anticipation of the arrival of water trucks.
The cost of 1,200 rupees (about 104 yuan) per water truck makes life even more difficult for the residents of Banderpalya. Suhira's family of four earns between 6,000 and 8,000 rupees (520 to 694 yuan) a month, and half of their household income is used to buy domestic water.
The most frightening thing is that water trucks are not available every day, and local residents of Kumkum revealed that they may only have such an opportunity to replenish their domestic water once every 15 days, and buying water in daily life has become a necessary expense to maintain their daily life. In the morning, the children are only cleansed with rare bottled water. Because of the lack of water, her youngest child even fell ill with a high fever. Empty buckets in the home bear witness to the hardship of days without water, and basic necessities such as laundry and dishwashing can only rely on the rainwater collected during the rainy season.
The risk of disease outbreaks is increasing due to a severe decline in sanitation due to water scarcity. Children defecate in the streets because they don't have water in their homes, and residents are thirsty and unable to cook food.
The middle class is also in trouble, and business production is affected
Do you think that water scarcity is only a matter for the poor, but you are wrong, and the middle and upper classes are not immune. Managers of an apartment building in Bangalore report daily to residents about water shortages and call for water conservation. Some apartments have even issued notices mandating residents to cut their water consumption by 50 percent. "The water supply situation is extremely worrying, the Kauffrey River has been cut off, and we have to rely on a limited supply of well water," the notice reads. Of the 11 existing wells, only 5 have water available, and their depletion time is unpredictable, leaving no buffer once the well water is depleted. "In the face of this grim situation, some IT elites have even returned to the countryside.
According to Reuters, the water shortage has forced local garment factories to slow down production, doubling the cost of water in restaurants, and even managers of multinational companies have asked employees to suspend work and go to water trucks to get water. The water crisis has permeated the socio-economic life of Bangalore.
Bangalore's water crisis has revealed the deep contradiction between development and environmental protection, equity and efficiency in a modern city. It warns us that the cost of neglecting environmental protection and social justice in the pursuit of economic growth is enormous, and the solution lies not only in technological innovation and infrastructure construction, but also in building a sustainable urban development model, ensuring the equitable distribution of public resources, and the shared responsibility and action of the whole society to protect water resources.
Okay, friends, let's talk so much about today's topic, if you have anything to say, please comment in the comment area, thank you for watching and liking and supporting. I'm Wenxin, we'll see you next time.