On most days, people hurried past the stretch of the K100 in Bengaluru with a hand over their noses. The air hung heavy, the water barely moved, and the canal felt forgotten by the city it once served. Yet tucked inside this ordinary sight was a piece of history waiting for a chance to breathe again.
A waterway rooted in Bengaluru’s old design
Once a stinking open sewer, the K100 waterway has now become a clear example of urban revival and civic collaboration. What had long been a conduit for waste has opened up into a green, breathable public space that gives residents shade, walking paths, and a sense of pride in their neighbourhood.
The K100 is no ordinary drain. It is part of Bengaluru’s 500-year-old Rajakaluve network built by Kempegowda to link the city’s tanks and carry water. Centuries of rapid urban growth changed this purpose. Encroachments crept in, concrete walls narrowed the channel, and the canal turned into a dumping point for sewage and solid waste.
At its lowest point, it carried nearly 130 million litres of untreated sewage every single day, creating conditions ripe for mosquitoes and illness.
When a long-awaited revival finally began
The tide began to turn when the Government of Karnataka, BBMP, BWSSB, and other stakeholders, in collaboration with the Mod Foundation, undertook a comprehensive restoration. Desilting operations, the construction of a sewage treatment facility, and the installation of modern infrastructure reduced sewage inflow from 130 MLD to just 5 MLD.
Concrete barriers were removed, walking paths were laid, trees were planted, bridges were upgraded, and parks were created along the canal’s 11-kilometre stretch.
Today, the K100 protects nearby areas from flooding and functions as a shared neighbourhood space. Children play along its edges, residents keep watch against littering, and sparrows fill the air where mosquitoes once swarmed.
The revival of K100 shows what a city can achieve when heritage, planning, and community care come together. It also offers Bengaluru a hopeful path forward with its remaining 842 kilometres of Rajakaluves, proving that forgotten waterways can become lifelines again.
