Little for long term water management in Bengaluru
Most Bengalureans will remember the summer of 2024 for the water crisis that followed a drought-hit 2023. This may have forced the civic authorities to implement water-saving measures earlier this year, but the 2025-26 budget offers little in terms of long-term planning to quench the city’s thirst that experts have been pressing for.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Cauvery Stage-V project with an additional water capacity of 775 MLD constructed at a cost of ₹5, 550 crore was dedicated to the public in 2024-25 and “has provided a water lifeline to 50 lakh residents in 110 villages.”
“Under the Karnataka Water Security and Disaster Resilience Programme, actions will be undertaken during 2025-2031 at a total cost of ₹5, 000 crore out of which ₹3, 500 crore will be World Bank loan and ₹1, 500 crore will be from the State government, ” he said.
He has listed flood management system in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) areas at a cost of ₹2, 000 crore, construction of waste water treatment plant and sewage pumping system by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) at a total cost of ₹1, 070 crore, and 41 lake-filling works by the Minor Irrigation Department under the disaster mitigation programme in Bengaluru Rural at a cost of ₹250 crore.
Under grants from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund and the National Disaster Mitigation Fund, the rebuilding of stormwater drains and rejuvenation of lakes in the city at a cost of ₹239 crore has been announced. Ongoing works mentioned included 70 tank filling works under the Vrushabhavati Valley Stage-I, 24 tank filling works under H.N. Valley Stage -II and 18 tank filling works under Bengaluru East taluka.
Mr. Siddaramaiah also said that Karnataka “is at the forefront of vigorously recycling and purifying used water — a practice praised by international forums.”
However, experts are divided. Water conservationist S. Vishwanath said the water crisis is in pockets and the Cauvery Stage-V project will solve a part of the crisis, while the tank filling exercises will improve the water table.
But T.V. Ramachandra from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, said the Budget says nothing about harvesting, the 700-850 mm rainfall Bengaluru gets or the problem of untreated sewage being let into the city’s lakes, and still talks about drawing water from Cauvery river.
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