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Report releasing on 14 May 2026
The KC Valley project channels Bengaluru’s secondary treated wastewater into the lakes of Kolar and Chikkaballapura to recharge groundwater. The Minister for Minor Irrigation recently assured the Karnataka Legislative Assembly that the secondary treated wastewater is safe, with written answers accompanied by 100+ pages of annexures, most of them prepared by IISc Bengaluru.
This report examines whether the answers and annexures placed before the Legislature are adequate and scientifically acceptable to assure long-term safety of wastewater-driven groundwater recharge, or whether they understate serious pollution and public-health risks. We find that the evidence is overwhelmingly inadequate and scientifically unacceptable, while massively underplaying pollution and public health concerns.
Treated wastewater reuse is the way forward. Making it safe is non-negotiable.
