Bengaluru | September 11, 2026
Karnataka Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Ramalinga Reddy has directed the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to ensure that sewage treatment plants across Bengaluru comply with standards prescribed by the National Green Tribunal and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).
Treatment plants that do not meet the prescribed standards have been given 30 days to comply, according to a report by Bangalore Mirror. The minister has also directed the KSPCB to inspect private sewage treatment plants operating in apartment complexes, educational institutions, commercial buildings, hospitals and office campuses across the city.
The inspections are intended to cover private facilities as well as plants connected to larger urban developments. The direction places responsibility on the pollution-control authority to examine whether these facilities are meeting the applicable treatment requirements and on BWSSB to address gaps in the city’s wider sewage network.
Reddy has separately asked BWSSB to divert sewage flowing into stormwater drains, repair damaged manholes and complete pending sewer connections. These directions address infrastructure failures that can allow untreated or inadequately treated sewage to enter the city’s drainage system.
The minister has also asked KSPCB and BWSSB to jointly inspect industrial waste, with particular attention to industrial areas in Peenya and Jigani. The report did not specify the number of facilities to be inspected, the inspection schedule or the penalties that may apply to plants found to be non-compliant.
Bengaluru currently generates about 2,580 million litres of sewage per day, against a treatment capacity of 1,364.5 million litres per day, according to the figures cited in the report. That represents a reported capacity gap of 1,215.5 million litres per day. Ongoing projects are expected to reduce the gap to 8.5 million litres per day by 2029.
The directions come as the city continues to rely on both public and privately operated sewage-treatment infrastructure. The immediate deadline applies to plants that are not meeting the prescribed standards, while the wider instructions cover stormwater-drain diversion, sewer connections, manhole repairs and industrial-waste inspections. The next stated milestone is the completion of compliance action within 30 days.
