“We need to pledge to replenish water bodies and ensure that urbanisation does not result in removal of green cover,” said Shekhar Ramamurthy, Managing Director, United Breweries.

Addressing the CII’s Annual Water Conference 2017, Ramamurthy said, “We need to understand and balance the interests of all stakeholders in addressing the severe water crisis we are facing today.”

Water pollution Rapid urbanisation has led to great stress on water sources and most of it is now polluted organically or chemically, he added.

“The per capita, per day consumption of water in urban areas is 135 litres compared with 40 litres in rural areas,” Ramamurthy said.

Severe water stress Delivering the inaugural address, Karnataka Minister for Large and Medium Industries RV Deshpande said that Karnataka is one of the most water-stressed states in the country.

“About 38 per cent of state’s population are living in urban areas against the national average of 28 per cent and this is expected to increase to 50 per cent by 2030,” he said.

“The water crisis is so severe that for the first time, Belgavi district administration has started sending water through trains to several villages and towns which are reeling under severe drought,” he added.

The train that carries 600,000 liters of water travels from Ghatprabha to Shedbal daily halting at five stations on the way. In about 4,500 villages, groundwater is not fit for drinking on account of high fluoride or iron content.

Restoration of lakes In view of the urgent need to restore and protect lakes, the Karnataka government has constituted an expert committee to suggest ways. The committee has already made its recommendations and government is working towards its implementation, Deshpande said.

Hariprasad Hegde, Convenor, CII-Karnataka Water Task Force, said that about 50 per cent of the domestic sewage in Bengaluru is untreated and flows into stormwater drains and lakes.

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