The Karnataka government has expanded the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s (BWSSB) jurisdiction to the entire Bengaluru Urban district, bringing all municipalities, gram panchayats and villages within the boundaries of Bengaluru North, Bengaluru East, Bengaluru South, Yelahanka and Anekal taluks under the board’s operational area.
The decision, issued under the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Act, 1964, takes effect immediately, according to an order cited by Vijay Karnataka. BWSSB will now be responsible for planning, implementing, operating and maintaining drinking-water supply and sewerage infrastructure in the newly included areas, as well as for wastewater treatment.
Until now, the board operated across about 800 square kilometres, covering Bengaluru’s core area, seven former city municipalities, one municipality and 110 villages. The expansion extends its remit beyond the limits of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to areas that have increasingly become part of the metropolitan region in practical and economic terms.
The government has also directed officials to prepare plans based on projected population and water demand for the next five to 10 years and beyond. These plans are expected to cover drinking-water networks, sewerage systems and sewage treatment plants in the additional areas. The move follows instructions issued at a recent meeting chaired by Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to align government policy and infrastructure planning with Bengaluru’s rapid growth.
A joint master plan is being prepared in coordination with the GBA, the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) and the Minor Irrigation Department. The planning exercise will focus particularly on municipalities and gram panchayats outside the GBA that function as extensions of the city but have not previously been covered by BWSSB’s full mandate.
According to the report, more than 90 per cent of water use in areas outside the GBA currently depends on groundwater. The government has linked this dependence to increasing pressure on aquifers and has directed the Minor Irrigation Department to work on a plan to use treated wastewater to replenish lakes across Bengaluru Urban district. The supplied report does not specify the proposed capacity, financing model or implementation timeline for that lake-replenishment programme.
The expanded responsibility means BWSSB will have to prepare and execute infrastructure plans in areas with different administrative arrangements and existing levels of service. The order also includes the preparation of plans for sewerage networks, sewage treatment plants and related projects. The government’s stated objective is to avoid repeating earlier infrastructure gaps by planning essential services before further urban expansion takes place.
Bengaluru Urban Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said the government had begun creating the foundation for urban infrastructure outside the GBA and that the relevant agencies had been instructed to prepare blueprints for government review. The next formal step identified in the report is the preparation and submission of the joint master plan and related infrastructure proposals.
