Cauvery V Stage achieves over 50% coverage in Bengaluru, easing summer water availability

With a good monsoon in 2025 and the coverage of Cauvery V Stage achieving over 50% progress, the drinking water situation in Bengaluru during the summer of 2026 is expected to be comfortable.

“Fortunately, there have been good rains in 2025. The reservoirs of the Cauvery basin have sufficient water to provide for the city during the summer months,” said V. Ram Prasath Manohar, Chairperson, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). 

Cauvery V Stage, commissioned in October 2024, has achieved over 50% coverage with over 1.75 lakh connections using up 400 MLD of water, as against an allocated 775 MLD for a target of over 3 lakh connections. This has eased drinking water crisis in the outer zones and 110 villages, which were dependent on borewells and tankers, in the absence of piped water supply from river Cauvery, like the rest of the city.

“New connections under V Stage have picked up pace, and that has eased the drinking water crisis in parts of the city most hit by a shortage in a dry year like 2024,” Dr. Manohar said. 

Many of these areas are reporting a fall in demand for water tankers.

Ramesh Reddy, a water tanker businessman in Mahadevapura, said that business was dull and was unlikely to pick up. “We were a stop-gap arrangement before Cauvery water supply reached the area. Now, many apartment communities are slowly taking piped water supply. So, the demand is low,” he said. 

However, some areas and apartment communities continue to rely on borewells and water tankers. The cost of a tanker of around 12,000 litres of water is pegged at ₹1,200 in the market now.

BWSSB, like in 2025, will continue to run the Sanchari Cauvery scheme, where the board will provide Cauvery water in tankers in areas yet to be covered by V Stage.

However, residents complain that the cost of Sanchari Cauvery water is no less than a private tanker, and given the demand was high in 2025, they rarely came on time. In 2025, a tanker of 12,000 litres of water cost ₹1,290 under the scheme. There is no clarity yet as to whether the price will be revised this year. 

BWSSB has commissioned the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) to study ground water levels in the city to plan for the summer. “The report is expected soon,” Dr. Manohar said.

The board has, over the last two years, filled up 40 lakes in the city with treated water, which will hopefully help in raising ground water levels, he added. 

Meanwhile, the board is continuing with some of the water saving measures that it embarked on during the crisis-rid summer of 2024. Till date, the board has ensured aerators are installed in over 15 lakh public taps, saving water worth ₹40 crore annually, sources said.

Published – February 10, 2026 05:01 pm IST