Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur (MS)
Puttur, May 3: Summer heat is increasing by the day and the much-needed rainfall is nowhere in sight. Though there is satisfactory inflow of water into the Netravati river, the lifeline of Dakshina Kannada district, the level of water in the dams is fast depleting.
Due to the dam built across Netravati river at Biliyoor, the backwater that has got collected in the river has brought some happiness to people living in the river basin area especially the agriculturists. However, when the water level at the Thumbay vented dam supplies water to Mangaluru city, water flows from AMR dam.
Due to this, the water level at Sarappadi and Kadeshwalya dams became dry and the multi-village drinking water scheme faced issues. After allowing 2.1 meters of water to flow from Biliyoor dam out of the 3.7 meter capacity to Sarappadi and Kadeshwalya dams only 1.6 meters of water was left at Biliyoor dam.
As it rained in some parts of the river basin of Netravati, there has been a rise of around one feet of water in the river. As the water level in Netravati rose to three meters, agriculturists began to draw water through pumps for their farm lands. However, a sudden drop in the water level has become a cause for concern among the farmers. Now they have to move their pumpsets back to the river basin area and provide water to the crops.
As sand became visible in the Netravati river after the water level slumped, people who wished to play in the water during summer are excited to swim in the river as well. However, as the sewage water of city area also flows into the river some are unwilling to play in the river.
Last year, the monsoon got delayed. Environmentalists played cricket in the river to draw the attention of the district administration. This year also if the drinking water requirement of Mangaluru increases due to the late onset of monsoon then water from Biliyoor dam will have to be flown to Thumbay dam. This will dry the river Netravati completely.
Water level at the vented dam built at Nekkiladi across the Kumaradhara river that supplies water to Puttur city is also depleting. When the water level was higher in Biliyoor dam, backwaters got collected in the vented dam. However, the expectation that water will be available in abundance for the whole year got busted the moment water was released from the Biliyoor dam.
Though wooden planks have been installed in Nekkiladi vented dam, the water level has depleted considerably. On the whole, only rainfall can bring much needed relief to all these hardships.