Siddarth Sethia
Bengaluru Urban district must prioritise permanent solutions to drinking water problems in its rural areas, and Gram Panchayats must make full use of available funds to address drinking water shortages,Greater Bengaluru Authority and Bengaluru Urban District In-charge Minister Krishna Byre Gowda directed officials on Wednesday.
“Wherever there is a drinking water problem, the available Gram Panchayat funds must be utilised immediately to provide relief to people.
At the same time,officials must focus on creating permanent infrastructure rather than repeatedly addressing the same problem,”the Minister said.
He was speaking at the first-quarter Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) review meeting for 2026-27,chaired by him and organised by the Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat.
Reuse connections of defunct borewells for new water supply:
The Minister directed officials to prioritise drinking water as a basic infrastructure requirement and ensure that proposals for new borewells are not automatically treated as the first solution.
“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.
He directed officials to complete the exercise before the next review meeting.Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Yathish R.assured the Minister that the work would be completed within the stipulated period.
*Funds alone will not develop the district; spending must solve people’s problems’:
Reviewing the utilisation of funds by Gram Panchayats, the Minister said a portion of available grants should be mandatorily earmarked for creating durable infrastructure,particularly in drinking water and waste management.
“Development cannot be measured merely by how much money has been spent.Every rupee spent must translate into a solution to a problem faced by people.Otherwise, expenditure serves little purpose,” he said.
Expressing concern over the state of waste management in rural areas,he said Karnataka needs to adopt a more scientific approach and learn from practices followed in other states.
“There is no shortage of funds. What we need is a scientific approach to waste management,”he said.
New roads identified around Bengaluru; action against lapses:
The Minister said a detailed exercise had been undertaken over the past one-and-a-half years to identify new roads in the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) limits around Bengaluru. Some existing roads would also be widened, he said.
He warned that strict action would be taken against officials if negligence or violations of rules were found in the implementation of these road projects.
Develop parks and playgrounds in rural areas:
The Minister also directed officials to identify vacant sites under Gram Panchayat jurisdiction that could be used for parks,playgrounds and sports facilities.
Such land should be formally handed over for the purpose and compound walls constructed on a priority basis, followed by development of the facilities depending on the availability of funds,he said.
Bengaluru South MLA,M.Krishnappa,Bengaluru Urban District In-charge Secretary,Ritvik Ranjan Pandey, Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner,P. S.Kantharaju, Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat CEO,Yathish R,and district-level officials from various departments were present at the meeting.
