Bengaluru’s water woes: Piped connections, Sanchari Cauvery reduce tanker demand

For the first summer in many years, reliance on water tankers has abated in Bengaluru. Coverage of piped supply of Cauvery river water in 110 villages and the Sanchari Cauvery scheme, where Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is supplying Cauvery river water through tankers, have done the trick. 

“More than 70% of the buildings in this part of the town have now got Cauvery connections. This has hit our business by more than 60% in many pockets. We have lost regular customers, especially apartments, who used to rely mostly on us for their water supply,” said Ramesh Reddy, a water tanker businessman from Doddanekkundi, serving Mahadevpura for over a decade now. 

Jagadish Reddy, a resident of Varthur, said while the water being supplied from BWSSB was irregular and not enough yet, Sanchari Cauvery had stabilised the prices of water tankers in the market. BWSSB is providing 12,000 litres of water for ₹1290.

“There have been times when we used to pay over ₹2,000 even for a 6,000 litres tanker of water. That kind of harassment by the tanker ‘mafia’ has certainly stopped. Even if we end up buying a few tankers from private players, they are also forced to provide at the same rates,” he said. 

Good coverage 

Outer zones of the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), especially 110 villages that were added to the city’s civic limits in 2007, got piped water supply only in 2024 through Cauvery V Stage. “While the Board aims to provide 3 lakh connections by 2028, a survey of these areas have revealed there are many empty plots and there are an estimated 1.8 lakh buildings today. Of them, the Board has already provided connections to 1.15 lakh buildings and another 30,000 connections are under process,” said V. Ram Prasath Manohar, Chairman, BWSSB. 

To fill the gaps, the Board started the Sanchari Cauvery scheme in May 2025. Since then, the Board has delivered over 30,000 tankers of water earning a revenue of over ₹5 crore till April 2026. “We have added 50 more tankers this summer, taking the total tankers running the scheme to over 150,” Dr. Manohar said. 

Water supply to be augmented 

However, concerns remain with water supply in Cauvery V Stage. “Both frequency and pressure of the water supply is low. Even though they release water two times a week, BWSSB is not able to meet our full water needs, forcing us to continue to rely on water tankers,” said Kochu Shankar, a resident of Horamavu, adding that his area is not being served by Sanchari Cauvery scheme either as it is far away from the nearest Ground Level Reservoir. 

Chandrappa, a water tanker businessman from Bellandur, said a few regular customers relied on them because one cannot get Sanchari Cauvery tankers delivered as and when needed. A tanker of 12,000 litres is being sold at around ₹1,400 and a 6,000 litre tanker at ₹800-₹900. 

Addressing these concerns, Dr. Manohar said the Board was augmenting water supply under Cauvery V stage. “We had been drawing only 350 Million Litres a Day (MLD) of water under V Stage till now. We are now augmenting it to over 400-450 MLD now. We also intend to supply water thrice a week in some of these areas,” he said. 

Cauvery V Stage can draw up to 775 MLD from the river Cauvery.