Water board’s remit extended across Bengaluru Urban district

The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s jurisdiction has been extended to the whole of Bengaluru Urban district under a notification issued by Karnataka’s Urban Development Department. The board’s responsibilities previously covered the core city area, including the former seven City Municipal Councils, one Town Municipal Council and 110 villages across about 800 square kilometres. The new jurisdiction includes five taluks in full: North, East, South, Yelahanka and Anekal, together with the villages within them.

The BWSSB will now be responsible for planning, implementing, operating and maintaining drinking-water supply in the newly included areas. Its remit will also cover underground drainage and the safe disposal of sewage through treatment plants. Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said a combined master plan would be prepared for the Bengaluru Urban district outside the Greater Bengaluru Authority limits.

The plan is intended to provide drinking-water and sewage infrastructure as urban development expands. Gowda said the BWSSB had been directed to assess drinking-water requirements for the next five and 10 years, as well as longer-term needs. The assessment will cover water storage, treatment plants and distribution networks.

A separate blueprint will address underground sewage networks and sewage treatment plants. Implementation will take place in phases, he said, in line with urban expansion. The directions were issued at a meeting involving the BWSSB, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Minor Irrigation Department.

Gowda said groundwater exploitation had risen beyond sustainable levels and required external intervention to restore groundwater levels. He added that the government had directed the Minor Irrigation Department to prepare plans for using treated wastewater from Bengaluru to fill lakes around the Greater Bengaluru Authority limits. The government said the agencies had been instructed to prepare detailed plans for consideration.

Gowda said the expansion of the water board’s operational area reflected rapid growth in municipalities and gram panchayats surrounding the city, where urbanisation had moved beyond the GBA limits.