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

…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. Mr. Gowda directed officials to complete the exercise before the next review meeting. He said a portion of gram panchayat grants should be earmarked for durable infrastructure, particularly drinking water,…