Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (MS)
Mangaluru, Mar 15: The water level in Thumbay dam presently, which is the lifeline of water supply to the city, stands at six meters. The water inflow into the dam has completely stopped. If there is rainfall during summer the present stock will not be enough to cater to the city's needs for two months of April and May and rationing seems inevitable.
In the AMR dam, the current water level is half meter lower than that what was reported in the last year during the corresponding period. There is likely to be acute shortage of drinking water in May if the water level in the dam goes down by 15%.
The daily requirement of water for Mangaluru is 150 MLD. Though 165 MLD is pumped from Thumbay dam, the remaining 15 MLD gets wasted in transit due to illegal tapping of pipeline and leakages.
Officials say that illegal connections are found mostly in Adyar, Pudu and Thumbay grama panchayat limits that are closer to the dam. In order to curb this pilferage a new pump house will be constructed which will supple water to grama panchayat limit households. By next year, MCC officials plan to put an end to the illegal tapping of water from the main pipeline.
Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Mayor Sudhir Shetty said, “At present there is no water scarcity as there is six meters of water in the Thumbay dam. However, due to leakage in the AMR dam, the water level in Thumbay gets depleted. Two pumps are being used to lift water from Harekala dam to compensate for the leakage.”
Ward number 4, 5, 16, 27, 41, 43, 23 and 45 of the city are the worst hit due to the water crisis. However, the shortage is made good through the deployment of 35 water tankers daily to these wards. Tenders have already been floated to three contractors to ensure regular supply of water to 20 wards each of the MCC as per the information given by Ashwin, engineer of MCC.
Jalasiri project, which is expected to supply water to the city 24x7 is under progress. Already 19 overhead tanks have been constructed under this project. However, there is not enough supply of water to these tanks to hold on.
According to MCC officials, the water woes of the city will be completely resolved if the Jalasiri project is implemented completely.