Bengaluru realty may take a hit if water crisis prolongs

Bengaluru: Demand for real estate properties spanning both residential and commercial will see a negative impact in the future unless the water crisis in Bengaluru is resolved on an urgent basis with sound long-term measures.

Experts in the real estate sector opined that the state government has to come up with long-term measures for preservation of lakes, creation of new water bodies along with planned development in the city for sustaining the momentum witnessed in recent years.

Though they said that ongoing water crisis in Bengaluru has not impacted the decision-making of property buyers yet, it will have negative repercussions if the water shortage lingers.

“This is the first year when Bengaluru is facing such water crisis. Once the rain starts, and water collection happens; things will be all right. But still, there is a bit of mental tremor for people who are looking at investing in the city. Especially, buyers from tier-II & III cities will think twice before buying properties here,” Satish BN, founder &Managing Director of realestate consultancy firm, Skydealz told the Bizz Buzz.

“The government should take initiatives towards water conservation. Steps like ensuring preservation of existing lakes and creation of new lakes will go a long way in resolving the water problem of Bengaluru. For instance, if a developer is developing a 5acre patch of land, the government can put norms to create an artificial lake within that development. It is possible when realty players are developing (swimming) pools within a project,” he added.

Bengaluru is going through a prolonged dry period with no rains in the city for more than three months for now. Such prolonged dry period coupled with poor monsoon last year has aggravated water shortage problem in the IT city which is overly dependent on its lakes for supply of water.

The city every day is witnessing scenes like water tankers supplying water to apartments, & large commercial offices with water rationing becoming the norm in most residential and office properties.

Owing to the water shortage in many offices of big corporate houses, some experts said it may dent Bengaluru’s image as the IT hub of the country.

“If the water crisis is again seen in coming years, corporate houses will definitely be more introspect before opening up offices in the city. Infrastructure wise, cities like Hyderabad have already proved that they are much better than Bengaluru. So, city has to address all these issues,” said a top executive working in a mid-tier real estate firm.

Meanwhile, despite the water crisis, sales have not been negatively impacted so far in the city.

“Bengaluru real estate sector has time and again proved that it provides much better capital appreciation (for real estate projects). Post COVID, it is even better in terms of rentals,” Satish BNof Skydealz said.