Dynamics of Water Stress in Bangalore,India: Exploring the Confluence of Geopolitical,Climatic,and Anthropogenic Factors

Abstract

This study attempts to examine the water crisis dynamics in Bangalore, elucidating the complex interplay between geopolitical tensions, climate change impacts, and anthropogenic factors that intensify regional water scarcity. Through a rigorous analysis of secondary data, this research highlights the critical role of geopolitical disputes in the water crisis. It also emphasizes the exacerbating effects of climate variability, evidenced by erratic monsoon patterns and inadequate groundwater replenishment. Furthermore, the study explores how anthropogenic factors such as rapid urbanization and unsustainable groundwater extraction compound the crisis. The urgency of the situation prompts the proposal of strategic adaptation and mitigation measures.

Keywords

Water scarcity Bangalore sustainable water management groundwater depletion community participation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aartsen

Koop

Hegger

, et al (2018) Connecting water science and policy in India: lessons from a systematic water governance assessment in the city of Ahmedabad. Regional Environmental Change 18: 2445–2457. DOI: 10.1007/s10113-018-1363-1.

Arulbalaji

Padmalal

Sreelash

(2019) GIS and AHP techniques based delineation of groundwater potential zones: a case study from Southern Western Ghats, India. Scientific Reports 9(1): 2082. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38567-x.

Arya

(2024) Once the “City of Lakes,” Bengaluru now grapples with water crisis; what citizens think of this. Times Now. Retrieved 10 April 2024. Available at: https://www.timesnownews.com/bengaluru/once-the-city-of-lakes-bengaluru-now-grapples-with-water-crisis-what-citizens-think-of-this-article-108347359

Bortoleto

Barbosa

PSF

Maniero

, et al (2021) A water-energy nexus analysis to a sustainable transition path for São Paulo State, Brazil. Journal of Cleaner Production 319: 128697. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128697.

Bosu

(1995) Sharing of inter-state river water resources: case studies of two major irrigation systems in Tamil Nadu, India. International Journal of Water Resources Development 11: 443–456. DOI: 10.1080/07900629550042128.

Chang

Ross

(2024) Cape Town, South Africa. In: Springer eBooks, pp.97–109. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-49631-8_8.

Chidambaram

Ramanathan

Thilagavathi

, et al (2018) Cauvery River. In: Singh

(ed.) The Indian Rivers. Springer Hydrogeology. Singapore: Springer, pp.353–366. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-2984-4_28.

Dayal

Bonthu

Vamsi Nagaraju

, et al (2024) Deep learning for multi-horizon water level forecasting in KRS reservoir, India. Results in Engineering 21: 101828. DOI: 10.1016/j.rineng.2024.101828.

Dikpal

Prasad

TJR

(2014) Time series analysis of rainfall in North Bangalore metropolitan region using remote sensing & geographic information system techniques. International Journal of Advanced Research 2: 824–832.

10.

Eshtawi

Evers

Tischbein

(2015) Quantifying the impact of urban area expansion on groundwater recharge and surface runoff. Hydrological Sciences Journal. DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2014.1000916.

11.

Garg

Azad

(2019) Analysis of Cauvery water-sharing award using an analytical framework model. Journal of Hydrology 579: 124214. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124214.

12.

Gebert

(1983) The Cauvery River dispute: hydrological politics in Indian federalism. DOI: 10.14288/1.0095680.

13.

George

Malano

Khan

, et al (2008) Urban water supply strategies for Hyderabad, India—future scenarios. Environmental Modeling & Assessment 14: 691–704. DOI: 10.1007/s10666-008-9170-6.

14.

Ghosh

Bandyopadhyay

Thakur

(2018) Conflict over Cauvery waters: imperatives for innovative policy options. New Delhi: Observer Research Foundation.

15.

Goldman

Narayan

(2019) Water crisis through the analytic of urban transformation: an analysis of Bangalore’s hydrosocial regimes. Water International 44(2): 95–114. DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2019.1578078.

16.

Gleick

(1998) Water in crisis: paths to sustainable water use. Ecological Applications 8: 571. DOI: 10.2307/2641249.

17.

Iyer

(2003) Cauvery dispute: a dialogue between farmers. Economic and Political Weekly 38: 2350–2352.

18.

Iyer

(2013) Cauvery dispute: a lament and a proposal. Economic and Political Weekly 48: 48–53.

19.

Janakarajan

(2016) The Cauvery water dispute: need for a rethink. Economic and Political Weekly 51: 10–15.

20.

Kannan

Balamurugan

Narayanan

(2020) Spatial economic analysis of agricultural land use changes: a case of peri-urban Bangalore, India. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy 26: 34–50. DOI: 10.1080/13547860.2020.1717285.

21.

Khandekar

Srinivasan

(2021) Dispute resolution in the Cauvery Basin, India. Handbook of Catchment Management 2e: 549–577. DOI: 10.1002/9781119531241.ch22.

22.

Kulranjan

Palur

Nesi

(2023) How water flows through Bengaluru: urban water balance report. Water, Environment, Land and Livelihoods (WELL) Labs at Institute for Financial Management and Research. Bengaluru. Available at: https://welllabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Jan-2024_WELL-Labs-Bengaluru-Urban-Water-Balance-Report.pdf

23.

Mays

(2013) Groundwater resources sustainability: past, present, and future. Water Resources Management 27: 4409–4424. DOI: 10.1007/s11269-013-0436-7.

24.

Mehta

Saroha

(2024) Bengaluru’s water crisis. Economic and Political Weekly 59: 5.

25.

Nagendra

Gopal

(2010) Street trees in Bangalore: density, diversity, composition and distribution. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 9: 129–137. DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2009.12.005.

26.

Nandi

Swain

(2023) Analysis of heatwave characteristics under climate change over three highly populated cities of South India: a CMIP6-based assessment. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 30: 99013–99025. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-22398-x.

27.

Nillesen

Felde

Pfannes

, et al (2020) Water as leverage: design studies for Khulna, Chennai and Semarang. Cities Research Series, pp.133–169. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-8748-1_6.

28.

Parveen

Ahmad

(2024) Urban water system of the National Capital Territory of Delhi: a comprehensive study. Water Science & Technology Water Supply 24: 3639–3651. DOI: 10.2166/ws.2024.233.

29.

Pavithra

Balakrishna

Shivakumar Naiklal

(2021) Rainfall pattern analysis in the three major valley systems of Bengaluru. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences 9: 687–694. DOI: 10.12691/aees-9-7-7.

30.

Purushothaman

Patil

(2019) Agricultural urbanism—family farms around Mandya. India Studies in Business and Economics. Singapore: Springer, pp.183–211. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-8336-5_8.

31.

Raj

(2016) Urbanization and water supply: an analysis of unreliable water supply in Bangalore city, India. In: Ghosh

Mukhopadhyay

Shah

, et al (eds.) Nature, Economy and Society. New Delhi: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-81-322-2404-4_6.

32.

Raju (2024) Cauvery inter-state water dispute. Compass by Rau’s IAS. Available at: https://compass.rauias.com/current-affairs/cauvery-inter-state-water-dispute/

33.

Raju

Ravindra

Manasi

, et al (2018) Trends and status of environmental resource use in Bengaluru metropolitan area (BMA). In: Urban Environmental Governance in India. The Urban Book Series. Cham: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-73468-2_6.

34.

Ramachandra

Vinay

Aithal

(2017) Frequent floods in Bangalore: causes and remedial measures. ENVIS Technical Report 123. Bangalore: Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science.

35.

Ramachandra

Sellers

Bharath

, et al (2019) Micro level analyses of environmentally disastrous urbanization in Bangalore. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 191(S3): 787. DOI: 10.1007/s10661-019-7693-8.

36.

Ramesh

and DHNS (2023) Wake up Bengaluru! Study finds 95% of city lakes encroached upon, polluted. Deccan Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2024. Available atL https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/wake-up-bengaluru-study-finds-95-of-city-lakes-encroached-upon-polluted-1197576.html

37.

Rani

(2002) Historical background of the Cauvery water dispute. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 63: 1033–1042.

38.

Roufs

(2015) Lima to restore pre-Incan aqueducts to alleviate its water crisis. Mongabay Environmental News. Available at: https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/lima-to-restore-pre-incan-aqueducts-to-alleviate-its-water-crisis/

39.

Satpathy

Jha

(2022) Intermittent water supply in Indian cities: considering the intermittency beyond demand and supply. Journal of Water Supply Research and Technology—AQUA 71: 1395–1407. DOI: 10.2166/aqua.2022.149.

40.

Saxena

(2017) Water conservation: traditional rain water harvesting systems in Rajasthan. International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology 52: 91–98. DOI: 10.14445/22315381/ijett-v52p215.

41.

Sharma

Hipel

Schweizer

(2020) Strategic insights into the Cauvery River dispute in India. Sustainability 12: 1286. DOI: 10.3390/su12041286.

42.

Srinivas

(2016) Roadside shrines, storefront saints, and twenty-first century lifestyles: the cultural and spatial thresholds of Indian urbanism. In: Waghorne

(ed.) Place/No-Place in Urban Asian Religiosity. ARI—Springer Asia Series 5. Singapore: Springer, pp.131–147. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-0385-1_7.

43.

Suresh

Gurugnanam

Vasudevan

, et al (2010) Drinking and irrigational feasibility of groundwater, GIS spatial mapping in upper Thirumanimuthar sub-basin, Cauvery River, Tamil Nadu. Journal of the Geological Society of India 75: 518–526. DOI: 10.1007/s12594-010-0045-5.

44.

TERI (2021) Water sustainability assessment of Pune. The Energy and Resources Institute. Retrieved 6 February 2025. Available at: https://www.teriin.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Water_Sustainability_Assessment_%20of_Pune.pdf

45.

Thokchom

(2020) Water-related problem with special reference to global climate change in India. In: Water Conservation and Wastewater Treatment in BRICS Nations. Elsevier, pp.37–60. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-818339-7.00003-5.

46.

Vanham

Weingartner

Rauch

(2011) The Cauvery river basin in southern India: major challenges and possible solutions in the 21st century. Water Science and Technology 64: 122–131. DOI: 10.2166/wst.2011.554.

47.

Verma

Rahul

Reddy

, et al (2016) The factors influencing bicycling in the Bangalore city. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 89: 29–40. DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2016.04.006.

48.

Vollmer

Pribadi

Remondi

, et al (2016) Prioritizing ecosystem services in rapidly urbanizing river basins: a spatial multi-criteria analytic approach. Sustainable Cities and Society 20: 237–252. DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2015.10.004.