A new study has pinpointed 11 critical sewer sites in Bengaluru that can serve as indicators for disease outbreaks, offering a city-level early warning system for infections like Covid-19.
Conducted by the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS) in partnership with the Biome Environmental Trust and National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), the study will be featured in the August 2025 edition of The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia.
From December 2021 to January 2024, researchers analyzed 2,873 wastewater samples from 26 sewershed locations across the city. Wastewater, they noted, can reveal community-level viral trends, especially where traditional clinical testing is limited.
Using a specialized COVID-SURGE algorithm and a custom Excel-based tool, 11 “bellwether sites” were identified. These include:
- Large sites: KC Valley 1, KC Valley 2, Rajacanal, Doddabele
- Medium sites: Agaram, Nagasandra, KR Puram, Yelahanka
- Small sites: Chikkabegur, Chikkabanavara, Lalbagh
These locations consistently reflected infection trends and offer a sustainable, scalable surveillance model that doesn’t compromise sample integrity, said Dr. Farah Ishtiaq, Principal Scientist at TIGS.
The research emphasizes that such sewage monitoring can provide quantitative insight into population-level disease even without mass testing, and can be expanded to track other respiratory illnesses like Influenza A and B.
“If integrated into our public health system, this could revolutionize epidemic preparedness in resource-limited settings,” she added.