Bengaluru, often referred to as India’s Silicon Valley, is grappling with a worsening water crisis that threatens to impact its fast-growing technology and industrial sectors. As India’s hub for startups and IT services continues to attract major investments from global tech giants, the city’s water resources are being stretched to their limits, highlighting a growing conflict between urban development and environmental sustainability.
Over the past decade, Bengaluru’s population has swelled beyond 13 million, driven by its emergence as a global technology and innovation hub. However, this rapid expansion has come at a cost. Unchecked urbanization, overextraction of groundwater, and the depletion of traditional water bodies have compounded a long-standing problem that now poses risks to both residents and industries.
Environmental experts warn that if the crisis continues unchecked, the city’s water supply could fall short of demand by more than 30 percent by the end of this decade. Many of Bengaluru’s once-abundant lakes have been encroached upon or polluted, and groundwater tables in some areas have dropped to alarming depths.
Technology boom and environmental strain
The city’s economic engine, led by its thriving IT sector and expanding industrial zones, has intensified water consumption. Companies in sectors such as information technology, electronics, and data infrastructure require significant amounts of water for operations, cooling systems, and real estate expansion.
While the technology boom has brought prosperity, it has also accelerated the depletion of natural resources. Large-scale construction, concrete expansion, and the loss of green spaces have reduced rainwater percolation, worsening the groundwater crisis.
The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has reported that more than 40 percent of the city’s water demand is met through groundwater extraction, often without adequate recharge mechanisms. Urban water demand is expected to increase by another 50 percent by 2030, a figure that environmental researchers describe as unsustainable without immediate intervention.
Corporate and civic responses
Some major corporations based in Bengaluru have begun taking proactive steps toward water sustainability. Technology parks and large IT campuses are investing in water recycling systems, rainwater harvesting infrastructure, and wastewater treatment plants. Companies like Infosys, Wipro, and Cisco have introduced water neutrality goals, with targets to reuse up to 90 percent of their water within their campuses.
Experts note that while these initiatives mark progress, they remain limited in scale compared to the overall demand of the expanding urban sprawl. Smaller enterprises and residential developments often lack the resources or incentives to adopt similar measures.
Civic authorities, including the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), have launched measures such as dual plumbing systems and mandatory rainwater harvesting for large buildings. However, inconsistent enforcement and infrastructure constraints have slowed progress.
Urban planning and policy challenges
Urban planners say that the root cause of the problem lies in inadequate planning and fragmented governance. Bengaluru’s growth has outpaced its ability to manage essential services. The city’s dependence on water pumped from the Cauvery River—located more than 100 kilometers away—has also placed pressure on regional resources, creating tensions with neighboring districts.
Environmental activist Vishwanath Srikantaiah, known for his work in sustainable urban water systems, has emphasized the need for local resilience. “Bengaluru must shift from a centralized supply model to decentralized water management. Rejuvenating lakes, promoting community-led recharge projects, and enforcing wastewater reuse will be key to future survival,” he said.
The government of Karnataka has announced several projects aimed at lake restoration and stormwater management, including the rejuvenation of key water bodies like Bellandur and Varthur lakes. However, critics argue that these efforts often focus on short-term cleaning drives rather than addressing systemic causes such as sewage discharge and land encroachment.
Impact on residents and industries
The water crisis has already begun to affect residents across the city. In several neighborhoods, particularly on the outskirts, water tankers have become the primary source of supply. Costs have surged, with tanker rates doubling in some areas over the past year.
For the tech industry, the crisis poses operational and reputational challenges. Companies face mounting pressure to adopt sustainable practices as part of their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. In 2025, industry associations began collaborating with the state government to develop shared water infrastructure for technology parks and industrial corridors.
Startups in water-tech innovation have also emerged, offering solutions such as IoT-based leak detection, smart metering, and AI-driven analytics for optimizing industrial water use. Bengaluru’s growing pool of clean-tech entrepreneurs views the crisis as both a challenge and an opportunity to build scalable sustainability models.
Balancing innovation and sustainability
As Bengaluru continues to attract global investments—from AI research hubs to data centers—the balance between growth and sustainability has become increasingly delicate. Data centers, in particular, are significant water consumers due to cooling requirements, raising concerns about future demand as AI and cloud computing infrastructure expands.
Urban policy experts argue that Bengaluru’s future resilience will depend on integrated planning that aligns technology growth with environmental restoration. A multi-pronged approach involving industries, local governance, and community participation is seen as essential to managing the crisis.
“Bengaluru’s innovation story cannot succeed without ecological stability,” said a senior researcher from the Indian Institute of Science. “Sustainable water management must become part of the city’s digital infrastructure strategy.”
The coming years will likely determine whether Bengaluru can reinvent itself as a model for green urban growth—or continue struggling under the weight of its own success.