Encourage reverse migration to save city’s resources: Experts

Bengaluru: In order to decongest Bengaluru and address its water issues, the government must encourage reverse migration while ensuring that rural areas are equally developed, said experts while speaking at panel discussion held in the city on Sunday.
At the panel discussion, titled, A Thirsting Monstrous City, experts also stressed on the need to develop a sustainable water policy through public consultations, adding that rivers must be allowed to flow in their natural basins even as Bengaluru’s lake networks are rejuvenated.
“The city itself isn’t monstrous in nature. It is the city’s economic pattern that can be considered monstrous and this is true of most big cities in the country. The government must first understand and admit that there is a problem before they go about tackling the water scarcity issue,” said SG Vombatkere, an environmental activist.
Shubha Ramachandran, a water sustainability consultant at Biome, highlighted a positive trend. “We work in Kolkata and Hyderabad among other cities and the level of awareness among people in Bengaluru is higher. We get at least 10 to 15 queries on a daily basis regarding rainwater harvesting and methods of rejuvenating dying lakes. This is step in the right direction although it is not a solution in itself,” she said.
Water conservation expert AR Shivakumarm said local resources must be managed in a sustainable manner.
Theatre personality and activist Prasanna, while inaugurating the panel discussion, said, “We must first focus on fixing villages in the state to make them self-reliant and stop looking at cities as a source of livelihood.”