500 million litre deficit: Water crisis in parts of India

Parts of India are facing severe drought, with dry borewells and little rainfall even before summer heat fully arrives.

In Bengaluru (also known as Bangalore), the largest and capital city of the southern Karnataka state, water restrictions have been implemented in response to a severe water shortage.

Home to around 14 million people, the city typically requires 2.6 billion litres a day of clean water. Currently, the water supply is short of 500 million litres.

To conserve the tight supply, using fresh drinking water for washing vehicles and gardens is now banned.

Last winter, officials in the state of Karnataka declared 223 of the 240 taluks (equivalent to a county in the UK) to be drought-affected, with 196 in a state of drought.

While heat is exacerbating the issue, it is the failure of the 2023 monsoon season which is placing more pressure on supplies. Monsoons are a vital source of water, and delivered less rainfall than average.

To make matters worse, around 6,900 of the 13,900 borewells used to collect groundwater in Bengaluru have run dry.

In addition to supplying drinking water, this shortage is also affecting farmers, with crop failure reported.

A project to create or revive more than 1,500 borewells is expected to be begun in June to alleviate the situation, officials insist that there is enough supply to comfortably reach June if people adhere to the restrictions imposed.