Sustainable Waterways: Rejuvenation of Nallahs in Bengaluru

Jana Urban Space is leading the two-year nallah rejuvenation programme by developing comprehensive design guidelines for the conservation, preservation, and rejuvenation of nallahs in Bengaluru, grounded in local context and national and international best practices. In Year 01, Jana USP undertook research, stakeholder consultations, and expert validation to frame robust planning and design principles. These guidelines will be demonstrated through a ‘Lighthouse Water Body Rejuvenation Project’—a selected 200 m stretch of nallah—supported by detailed design, cost estimates, and advocacy with city and state agencies. Year 02 will focus on on-ground implementation of the lighthouse project, enabling learning, replication, and scale-up across the city. (Supported by WIPRO)

This proposal aims to address the root cause of urban waterbody degradation through tackling upstream sources such as nallahs, and develop design guidelines to address these challenges. Following piloting in lighthouse projects, it would be the aim to see such guidelines institutionalised in the range of government guidelines mentioned above to ensure systemic reform.

• Development of in-depth best practice case studies, analysing successes, failures, and transferable lessons.
• Following the case studies, a city-wide assessment of Bengaluru’s drains was undertaken, including a scoring exercise to identify potential pilot stretches based on technical criteria and political feasibility.
• Pilot stretches were shortlisted, including the C-100 drain near Shivajinagar and the Bangalore International Centre (BIC).
• In subsequent stages, detailed flow analysis, hydraulic modelling, and site appraisal will be conducted for the shortlisted stretches, followed by the preparation of schematic design proposals.