Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MS)
Mangaluru, Sep 28: There is a possibility that the city may face scarcity of drinking water in coming summer months if it does not rain sufficiently in the next two and a half months during the South - East Monsoon (Hingaru). The shortage of rain in the coming months will hamper the inflow of water in the Thumbay vented dam.
Generally, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) starts preventing the water from draining by placing the wooden planks towards the end of the month of November when the rains stop completely. However, this year the wooden planks are already placed in the dam to prevent draining of water.
At present out of the 30 gates, only two are kept open. Last year during this time six to seven gates were kept open. It can be calculated that compared to last year, the inflow of water this year is reduced by about 50%. However, it is not possible to estimate the inflow of water right now as there are signs of more rain as well as there is water storage in the AMR dam. If it does not rain in the coming months, then the inflow of water into the dam will reduce considerably and there may be a scarcity of water to the city in the months of March, April and May.
Storage of water to a height of six meter
Last year during the end of November water was stored to a height of six meters in the Thumbay vented dam. Now the storage height is five meters. As the inflow decreases, the MCC has decided to increase the height to six meters. The height of the dam is 12 meters and the water can be stored to a maximum height of seven meters only.
137 MLD water required every day
At present, there is a demand of about 137 MLD (millions of liter per day) of drinking water every day in the city and around 160 MLD is being supplied. In the AMR dam at Shamboor 14.25 MLD of water is being collected. If the level of water in the Thumbay water dam reduces, then the water has to be discharged from AMR to maintain the level.
Water rationing to be decided in the month of December
"Right now there is enough water in the dam. More rains are expected in the coming months also. So this year there will not be any scarcity of water in the city. From next month onwards, the water will be stored to a height of six meters. The situation of water will be assessed in the month of December and if needed it will be decided to ration water supply," said Mohammed Nazeer, commissioner of MCC.