Parched again: On Bengaluru’s drinking water woes

While Karnataka as a whole is improving its water security, Bengaluru is dealing with extreme groundwater withdrawal. The State drew 66% of the groundwater that it could sustainably extract in 2025, but Bengaluru East Taluka drew 378%. The sustainably extractable volume of groundwater is based on how much withdrawal will deplete the aquifer, so while 378% does not mean Bengaluru East has depleted its groundwater, it is reminiscent of an ongoing crisis that has, once again, turned acute. The Bengaluru region lies on crystalline rock that already stores little water and recharges slowly. The city further concentrates demand in areas with higher population density and per-capita consumption, including ‘tech parks’ and apartment complexes. The built-up area of such urban infrastructure also suppresses recharge by percolating rainwater. A growing fraction of the population depends on water from the Cauvery, which comes with a high expansion cost. Thus, the problem has a natural basis but has been compounded over the years by inconsiderate urbanisation, where the costs — monetary and, increasingly, existential — are being passed on to the populace.

In 2024, a weak monsoon left nearly half of Bengaluru’s 14,000 borewells dry. The government launched a project to supply 775 million litres per day to 110 villages and lower groundwater stress. But to date, the project has achieved only midway coverage, leaving many residents still banking on tankers. A 2026 study found that the crisis has since moved to Koramangala and Hebbal. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has also been using treated sewage water to recharge lakes. It seems Bengaluru is treating supply as infinitely expandable when it is not. Its preference for grey over green infrastructure has sealed the ground against replenishment while the increasing demand liquidates ecological capital. The city does not manage its pipeline supply, groundwater, and wastewater together, allowing consumers to default to the most convenient solution: tankers. Authorities need to minimise distribution losses and penalise overextraction and mandate 100% decentralised wastewater recycling for all non-potable uses. The ideal long-term solution remains unchanged: Bengaluru needs to become a ‘sponge city’. This includes restoring the connections between lakes and wells to capture monsoon runoff, thus aligning land-use planning with the recharge capacity of each taluka, and overall sealing the ground less and increasing absorption on the surface.