The Karnataka government has announced a statewide campaign to identify and safely close failed, abandoned and unsafe open borewells across the state.
The initiative, Borewell Suraksha Abhiyan, was launched on October 6, 2026 by Minor Irrigation Minister Ajay Dharam Singh to prevent unsafe borewells from becoming serious hazards, especially for children.
The minister directed officials to develop a comprehensive action plan on identification, verification, safe closure, coordination between departments and monitoring.
First Phase to Focus on Defunct Borewells
The first phase of the campaign will concentrate on failed and defunct borewells drilled under the Minor Irrigation Department.
Officials will find and verify those borewells, and if they are dangerous they will be closed.
Hence, the government said that legal and monitoring provisions are already in place after Supreme Court directions. But some borewells may have gone missing from official records, including those drilled without adequate reporting.
That has prompted the government to not only focus on borewells reported so far, but also on potentially unidentified hazardous sites.
Campaign to Expand to Other Departments
The drive is expected to be expanded in coordination with other government departments, local bodies and agencies after we have done our first step.
The second phase will cover unsafe borewells in public places and other areas, and expand the campaign beyond Minor Irrigation Department assets.
This would be to build a system for identifying borewells for which residents might be at risk.
Citizens May Get Reporting Facility
The Karnataka government is also looking at a WhatsApp number and a web-based reporting system through which citizens could report suspected unsafe borewells.
Under the proposed mechanism, people may be able to submit photographs and location details of borewells that are in need of attention.
The system could also use geo-tagging to track complaints from the initial report through verification and eventual closure.
Government Targets Open Borewell-Free Karnataka
Ajay Dharam Singh said the government's objective is to go beyond checking borewells already in departmental records.
The campaign will also look for borewells that have escaped official attention and ensure that they are made safe.
The long-term goal is to move towards an “Open Borewell-Free Karnataka.”
The Minor Irrigation and Ground Water Development departments are in charge of preparing the detailed implementation framework for the campaign.
What Happened?
The announcement was made on October 6, 2026 by Karnataka Minor Irrigation Minister Ajay Dharam Singh. The campaign will initially focus on failed and defunct Minor Irrigation Department borewells before being expanded to other government departments and public places.
