The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) will initiate a major project to replace nearly 200 km of 40-year-old cast-iron pipelines across Bengaluru in a bid to reduce water leakages and bring down unaccounted for water (UfW) to below 10 percent.

Currently, the city loses about 28 percent of its water supply due to leakages and theft. To address this, BWSSB has already removed over 40,000 illegal connections, but officials emphasize that pipeline replacement is essential to significantly reduce losses. The Rs 200 crore initiative will primarily cover core city areas like Shivajinagar, Byatarayanapura, CV Raman Nagar, and Chamarajpet. Chairman Dr Ramprasat Manohar V explained, “Many of these cast-iron pipelines were laid nearly 40 years ago. Owing to this, leakages are bound to happen. Hence, to bring down the UfW, we have taken up this project to completely replace the pipelines in phases.”

A similar project between 2018-19 replaced 680 km of pipelines and proved financially viable, with investments recovered within three years. Citizens, however, expressed concerns about road safety during the ongoing monsoon, urging BWSSB to minimize inconvenience.