Mangaluru stares at worst water crisis

Mangaluru, Nov 7: With the receding rains and the Indian Meteorological Department predicting that there will be no more continuous rains in the coastal Karnataka this year, the city of Mangaluru is staring at another water crisis.

Deputy Commissioner Dr K G Jagadeesha has hinted that Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC)?will supply water to its citizens on alternate days from January 1, 2017 if the inflow of water to the Thumbe vented dam declines.

“If there was good inflow of water to the dam, then water will be supplied daily. In the wake of the city facing acute shortage of water during last April-May, the district administration has chalked out measures to mitigate the water crisis,” he said.

The maximum storage level of the old dam is 13 feet. About 160 MLD (million litres a day) of water was being lifted from Thumbe dam for the city daily and only 90 MLD of water was available for distribution.

Jagadeesha, the work on painting the new vented dam built across River Nethravathi should be completed by November end. The work on closing the gate of the new vented dam should also be completed by month end. The water upto five metre in the dam should be stored by December 10. The silt near the new Thumbe vented dam that has come up in the downstream should also be removed immediately.

The process of closing the gates of old Thumbe vented dam has been initiated and will be completed by November 15 to ensure full storage for supplying water to the city during the summer months. He directed MCC Commissioner Mohammed Nazeer to identify the exact extent of land to be submerged with the MCC storing five-metre water in new Vented dam within a week and put up a red colour flag on the area to make people aware of submerge of land.

A meeting of the farmers who will lose land will also be convened to appraise them of the situation within a week. A proposal has already been sent to the state government for the release of amount to be distributed as compensation among those who lose land.

With zero inflow of water to the dam, the water stored upto five metre would cater to the needs of the citizens for 45 days. With water available in AMR dam, the city can manage the water situation for three months, he stated.