CM announces ₹9,000 crore towards drinking water in urban local bodies

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government has decided to allocate ₹9,000 crore for drinking water infrastructure in urban local bodies across the State. His said this after inaugurating Municipalika 2023, a three-day expo at Palace Grounds.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government has decided to allocate ₹9,000 crore for drinking water infrastructure in urban local bodies across the State. His said this after inaugurating Municipalika 2023, a three-day expo at Palace Grounds.

The Chief Minister said apart from channelling funds towards drinking water, the government will allocate money under various grants to improve civic amenities like roads, drainage, and others.

He said his government is committed to providing needed amenities to all the 316 town and cities and will ensure development of both rural and urban local bodies. “Bengaluru is one of the fastest growing cities in the country with a population of about 1.5 crore. Of the seven crore population in the State, three crore people live in urban landscapes. The residents should have access to clean drinking water, better traffic management, proper drainage system and markets. In other words, people should have access to good civic amenities,” he said.

The event hosted about 5,000 industry visitors and 200 exhibitors. This is the 17th edition of the show. The event was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar.

Day one of the three-day event focussed on urban planning reforms, emerging building technologies, smart cities mission, and city resilience and surveillance among others. Panel discussions were held on these topics.

Municipalika brought together stakeholders from relevant industries like water and waste utilities, transport and traffic departments, development authorities, fire and safety departments, real estate development, and consultancy alongside ministers and government and municipal officials to discuss solutions for a better, more sustainable urban future. Municipalika collaborated with Construction Architecture Planning Engineering Expo and Architecture in the Age of Millennials to organise the event under the banner of ‘Future Cities: a 360° Event on City Development.’ 

The Australia Trade and Investment Commission, under the Australian government, acted as the innovation partner for the event. Several Australian urban infrastructure companies attended the event.