Severe water crisis awaits Mangaluru as Thumbe dam has water only for 18 days

[email protected] (CD Network | Suresh Vamanjoor)
April 24, 2016

Mangaluru: Apr 23: Any further delay in pre-monsoon rains in coastal Karnataka will surely push Mangaluru into deep water crisis as water at Thumbe vented dam, on which the city is dependent, will last only for next 18 days.

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The Thumbe dam, which had enough water during the same time last year, is now facing severe shortage of water and its level is decreasing with every passing day.

On Saturday, when Mangaluru Mayor Harinath, along with other corporators, officials and representatives of industries visited the 13-foot high vented dam, the level of water storage stood at 7.9 feet with inflow of water reaching zero-level.

Speaking to media persons, the mayor called upon the citizens of Mangaluru to use water judiciously. He said that water storage at the Thumbe vented dam was enough for only 18 days' supply. “The water from AMR Hydro Power Project dam will be sufficient for an additional four to five days. The MCC has already initiated measures to supply water to the citizens on alternate days,” the mayor assured.

He said that farmers will be persuaded not to use the pump sets upstream. “A team, led by executive engineer Linge Gowda, has been constituted, and a drive will be started to check the use of pump sets. The team will ensure that water is not wasted. The Corporation has already stopped supplying water to construction sites. Water should not be sprinkled on the road to check dust,” he insisted.

The Mayor said that if there was any problem of shortage of water or case of water being wasted, then the public can contact the executive engineers, assistant executive engineers and junior engineers.

Speaking of supply of water, he said that the number of tankers to supply water to the areas that fail to get water has been increased from three to seven. The houses situated on narrow roads will get water in tankers mounted on three pick-up vehicles. Measures will be taken to supply water through tankers at the areas situated at elevated places, he assured.

“There was deficit in rainfall in Dakshina Kannada in 2015. Its impact is being felt this year. The district normally receives pre monsoon showers in April. This year, however, pre-monsoon shower too has failed. Last year, with the pre-monsoon shower, the water-level at the dam was overflowing on April 25. The water-level at Thumbe vented dam declines by three inches if the water is pumped once to supply to the citizens of Mangaluru,” Harinath explained.

The Mayor said that the MCC has initiated measures to drill six borewells in the areas where there is acute shortage of water. Two borewells have been completed at Vamanjoor and Pacchanady. “If the situation aggravates, then water will be drawn from all private borewells and other water sources within the city limits to supply it to the citizens of Mangaluru. The supply to industries will be stopped fully. In case of necessity, the district administration will be asked to make arrangements to release water from the dams situated at Subramanya, Hosmat and other places,” Mayor said.

The MCC supplies 2 MGD water to gram panchayats that are situated between Thumbe and Padil. The MCC is planning to purify the water to hand it over to the gram panchayats to take over the maintenance of water supply to Adyar, Pudu and Thumbe Gram Panchayats. 

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Comments

Abdul Vadood
 - 
Sunday, 24 Apr 2016

ONLY ALLAH CAN SAVE US.

NOOR
 - 
Sunday, 24 Apr 2016

Only ALLAH can save us from drought...
Dear Muslims....
I suggest to ask your local masjids to pray for rain...
ASK with ALLAH alone and never give any attributes to his CREATION.
ALLAH is the owner of this earth & ask with ALLAH as per the teachings of Prophet Muhammad pbuh... ALLAH is able to do all things. if he says BE and it will be... Dont look at the situation... Lets trust and ask with ALLAH in Full TRUST.

As QURAN says : It is ALLAH who sends the winds which stir up clouds which He spreads about the sky however He wills. He forms them into dark clumps and YOU see the rain come pouring out from the middle of them. When He makes it fall on those of His servants He wills, they rejoice. - QURAN 30:48
Lets PONDER on What QURAN speaks and THINK deeply about OUR CREATOR who sustains us by giving life on EARTH with his rainfall.
Subhanallah... Praise be to ALLAH.

Mohan P
 - 
Sunday, 24 Apr 2016

here mangaloreans dont have water and congress want to finish yethinahole protect. if this succeed forget about the rain in coastal karnataka,

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News Network
April 12,2020

Raipur, Apr 12: As many as 108 out of the 159 people that were quarantined by the Chhattisgarh government last week for allegedly taking part in Delhi’s Tablighi Jamaat congregation are Hindus, according to reliable sources. 

The names of these 159 people, who were said to be in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area when the Tablighi Jamaat congregation was held mid-March, were mentioned in a list issued by the state home department last month. 

The list has been accessed by the many media outlets. But, Raipur Collector S. Bharti Dasan and the state’s Principal Secretary, Home, Subrata Sahu, claimed no such list was issued.

However, a senior state home department official, who didn’t want to be named, said: “Listing of the names was done on the basis of location of mobile phones traced in Nizamuddin in the month of March during the period when congregation of Tablighi Jamaat was held.

“It was subsequently sent to the chief medical officers in the respective districts for further action,” the official added.

These 159 people have either been quarantined at their homes or at government isolation centres. The quarantine exercise took place between 31 March and 1 April.

Interestingly, almost all the people named in the list have denied attending the massive Jamaat congregation, which had seen the participation of over 3,000 people, including foreigners.

Under quarantine “forcefully”, these people alleged they are facing social boycott as they have been “linked to the Tablighi”.

Those placed under quarantine, told media if their phone locations have shown their presence in the Nizamuddin area that didn’t necessarily mean they had attended the Tablighi congregation.

“My neighbours are no longer like my family. After 31 March, I have received more than 500 calls (from relatives and friends) and had to convince them that I didn’t attend the Jamaat event,” Umesh Pandey, a resident of Ambikapur, said.

“People in my area have started saying that some Brahmins took part in the event. I have no objection to being kept in quarantine, but it should be explained why it is being done,” said Pandey, who is a consumer rights activist.

Pandey said, like every year, he had gone to Delhi in March to participate in a consumer protection programme and had stayed at a hotel in Nizamuddin. “I came back on 17 March. After I was quarantined, a false propaganda is being spread about me that I am linked with Tablighi Jamaat activities.”

Pandey said he and his family are now being “looked at as suspects”. 

Kamal Kumar Popatani, a businessman from Bilaspur district, has faced similar problems. Popatani and his family have been living in isolation since 31 March.

“I am completely flabbergasted by this step taken by the state government. I always visit Delhi to procure items for my shop. This time too I had completed my procurement and had returned home on 16 March. Everything was usual till 30 March, but suddenly after 31 March, when this so-called list of 159 alleged suspects was released by the government, we were placed under isolation,” Popatani said.

“My own family members, neighbours and everyone I know are now accusing me that I had joined the Tabligi Jamaat gathering. How can it ever happen? This strange attitude of the government has made my entire family a victim of social boycott.”

Trader Abdul Rahman, a resident of Lutra Sharif area of Bilaspur district, also echoed similar sentiments.

“I returned from Delhi along with my wife on 15 March, but my entire family has been kept in isolation since 31 March. All this is way beyond my comprehension… Blood samples of the entire family were taken. Now everyone is keeping a distance from us and calling us corona suspects,” said Rahman, who had gone to Delhi for a holiday.

“People not only from my village but also in the nearby villages are pointing fingers at me and my family… We are the ones who condemn Tablighi Jamaat and their activities. We have nothing to do with them. The quarantine… has brought…infamy to us,” he added.

In another goof-up, the list even includes names of some people who no longer live in the state but carried mobile numbers issued in Chhattisgarh. One such name is that of BSF sub-inspector Shantanu Mukherjee, who was working in Bhilai about two years ago, but is currently posted in Delhi.

“What kind of list is this? Who released it in the first place? At first, I received a call from the Covid-19 control room in Chhattisgarh and then from the State Police Control Centre. They inquired about my health and current place of posting,” said Mukherjee, whose office is located close to the Nizamuddin area. 

Makkhan Singh Yadav, a sub-inspector with the CRPF, is another case in point. Yadav, who is posted somewhere close to Nizamuddin, had bought a SIM card from Dantewada, when he was posted there five years ago.

“I had received calls from both Delhi and Chhattisgarh police after being marked as a corona suspect. But when I explained the reality to them, no calls were made thereafter. I could not understand how all this is taking place,” said Yadav, who is a native of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh.

A first-year Delhi University student, who belongs to Mahasamund district of Chhattisgarh, has been kept under isolation at a local government hospital.

The student, who didn’t want to be named, said she had gone to Nizamuddin railway station to catch a train for Chhattisgarh.

“I came home immediately after it was announced that educational institutions are shutting down. After returning from Delhi, I spent around 19 days at my own home, but suddenly I was admitted to the hospital on 1 April. Why have I been brought here (hospital) if I have no symptoms? All this feels like some sort of torture.”

“Despite my repeated denial, I was brought here by the health department on the pretext of being associated with the Tablighi Jamaat,” she said. 

Asked about the Tablighi quarantine list, principal secretary Sahu said: “The government has issued no such list. We have received inputs from the social media about three such lists but the state government has not officially prepared any list.

“All those put under quarantine have been done as per the orders issued by the state government. This order states that those who came to the state after 1 March should be kept under isolation,” he added.

Raipur Collector Dasan refused to say anything about the list and added that people have been kept under quarantine after obtaining their “detailed travel history” based on the guidelines issued by the ICMR.

On the allegation of social boycott, Dasan said: “No person or their families placed under home quarantine or isolation should be subjected to any social boycott or misconduct. They also need not have any social inferiority complex in their minds.

“If any person placed under quarantine feels like this (social inferiority complex), the government has arranged counsellors for them. Our counsellors are convincing and assuring such people by reaching out to them.”

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News Network
March 4,2020

New Delhi, Mar 4: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed a trial court in Ramanagara district of Karnataka to ensure the presence of absconding self-styled godman Swami Nithyananda to face trial in a 2010 rape case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde also allowed a plea by K Lenin alias Nithya Dharmananda, former driver of Nithyananda and had filed a complaint against Nithyananda, for cancellation of non-bailable warrants issued against him.

The apex court ordered the cancellation of the non-bailable warrants issued against the complainant in the case on the condition he shows up before the trial court in Ramanagara district today itself.

He had challenged the Karnataka High Court's February order where non-bailable warrants were issued against Lenin for not appearing before the court for recording evidence.

"Having heard the counsel appearing for the petitioner and upon perusal of the record, we see no reason to interfere with the judgment and order passed by the High Court, which merely directs the petitioner to give evidence in support of his complaint," read the apex court order passed on Tuesday.

The Bench also directed that "the concerned trial court shall make every effort to ensure the presence of accused (Nithyananda) to face the proceedings."

The Karnataka High Court had last month cancelled the bail granted to Nithyananda, even as the state police claimed the absconding godman was on a 'spiritual tour'.

Nithyananda is facing charges of rape and indulging in unnatural sex. He was arrested on April 22, 2010, however, granted bail on June 11, the same year.

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News Network
April 15,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 15: With the reporting of the death of an 80-yr-old female from Hirebagewadi taluk in Belagavi district, the number of persons, who were died due to COVID-19 related disease, increased to 12, in Karnataka on Wednesday.

According to official sources, the deceased was a relative of another COVID-19 infected person, was succumbed to death this morning at a designated Hospital in Belagavi district.

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