Minister asks gram panchayats around Bengaluru to prioritise long-term solution to drinking water woes

Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Wednesday chaired the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) review meeting of the Bengaluru Urban district and directed officials to ensure that gram panchayats fully utilise funds to address drinking water shortage in rural areas of the district. He directed officials to focus on permanent infrastructure instead of temporary measures.

Speaking at the first-quarter KDP review meeting for 2026-27, Mr. Gowda said drinking water should be treated as a basic infrastructure requirement. He asked officials to explore reusing connections of defunct borewells instead of routinely drilling new ones. “Several proposals are being received seeking funds to drill new borewells. There are more than 1,000 borewells that have remained defunct for years. The RR numbers of these inactive borewells should be transferred to new connections wherever feasible,” he said.