IISc study has shown no negative impact of treated water supplied to Chickballapur and Kolar: Govt.

Seeking to allay fears about the quality of treated water being supplied to Kolar and Chickballapur districts for filling up tanks, the government on Tuesday noted that the IISc, which is monitoring water quality, had found no presence of any harmful elements in the water so far. The government announced that it would organise a meeting of legislators from these districts with experts from the IISc.

The issue was raised in the Assembly during the question hour by JD (S) member Samruddhi V. Manjunath, who displayed two bottles of water and alleged that contaminated water being supplied to them was harmful to humans, animals, and plants as it was being subjected to only secondary waste treatment.

Replying to him, Science and Technology Minister N.S. Boseraju made it clear to the members that the treated water from Bengaluru’s K.C. valley was being supplied to them only for indirect usage, like filling up tanks, and not for drinking requirements.

The Society for Innovation of the IISc had studied the impact of the project and filed a report in July 2023, he said. The report had concluded that “the outcome of the study indicated no negative impact on soil properties when using indirectly recharged groundwater. A significant positive impact was reduced soil salinity in the impacted area. No microbiological contamination in terms of pathogens was found on tested soil and crop samples. Hence, indirectly recharged groundwater using secondary treated water could be safely used as an alternative source for irrigation, overcoming the concerns of heavy metal and micro contaminants and pathogens associated with the direct use of partially treated or untreated mixed municipal wastewater for irrigation”.

However, the government would organise a meeting between the experts of the IISC and legislators from the districts where the treated water is being supplied so that they could directly confirm to themselves from the experts about the situation, he said.

Intervening in the reply, Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda expressed displeasure over levelling baseless charges for political reasons without scientific evidence.

Mr. Gowda asked politicians to desist from creating confusion among people by spreading false information.

He recalled that presidents of the World Bank and United Nations had visited the projected area and hailed the authorities for taking up such a project. The World Bank had also given loan to the state to extend the project, he pointed out.