In recent news, Bengaluru continues to grapple with a water crisis that has hit daily lives of many residents.
Bengaluru Grapples With Water Crisis
The impact is to the extent that some netizens have been urging the IT industry and the government to give Work From Home facility again.
They are of the opinion that WFH on a temporary basis will help depopulate India’s Silicon Valley hence help in handling the water crisis.
Bengaluru seems to be facing a shortage of about 500 million liters of water per day (MLD) against the requirement of 2,600 MLDs, according to the Karnataka government.
Besides IT professionals, many legal luminaries and water experts have also been suggesting the Karnataka government to encourage WFH measures till this water crisis can be handled in the city.
Regarding the same, Justice K Sreedhar Rao, former acting chief justice of the high courts of Karnataka and Assam, proposed a short-term solution of implementing work-from-home policies, especially considering the 15 lakh IT workers in Bengaluru.
Further, they reasoned that allowing work-from-home arrangements for a year could result in around 10 lakh people returning to their hometowns.
This would definitely eliminate some pressure on Bengaluru’s resources.
During the 1980s, the city’s population was between 25 to 30 lakh, whereas now it has surged to over 1.5 crore, Justice Rao remarked.
Interestingly, the impact wasn’t felt as severely when the state of Karnataka faced three years of drought 2003-04, due to the lower population density at that time.
Besides this, he has also suggested measures like desilting of lakes.
Netizens Demanding WFH
In the meantime, the demand for WFH in Bengaluru has gained traction.
Many netizens also appear to agree with Justice Rao’s suggestions.
One of the netizens said, “Work from home (WFH) is the way to go at the onset. This will contribute actively towards water conservation. People would shift back to their hometowns, reducing the pressure on Bengaluru.”
“IT companies have to give WFH to migrant employees to go to their native place and do remote jobs till summer ends. This will help Bengaluru people to survive,” another user opined.
According to the netizens, WFH measures, like during the pandemic, should be actively considered.
Adding, “During Covid-19 employees and their families where supported the company by Work From Home (WFH).Now time of these companies to allow them Home From Office.”
The water crisis started in Bengaluru earlier caused by deficient rains which have dried up many borewells.
There would be insufficient rainfall during the monsoon season this year as cautioned by a retired deputy director-general from the Geological Survey of India.
