The 'Ifs' and 'Buts' of Water Crisis in Mangalore
Special Correspondent
Mangalore, Mar 29: The public was caught unawares the other day reading newspaper reports that the water at Thumbe Dam from which the city gets its water supply, is sufficient only for nine days. Needless to say this has shocked the wits out of the people who are stunned by this overnight revelation. Not long ago citizens were elated reading in newspapers that there will not be water shortage in the city in the near future as work had started on new vented dam at Thumbe which should have been completed in January 2011. That seems to be only a mirage and suddenly there is panic among people following the revelation that water in Nethravathi is sufficient only for 9 more days if it dosres not rain in the next fortnight.
For the last four years the city was spared of major water crisis. Except for occasional hiccups in water supply in some parts of the city there was not any major problem as far as water supply to the city is concerned. Elected representatives and officials now claim that there has been a sudden dip in the water levels in Thumbe reservoir following the sudden heat resulting in more consumption of water by the public. Sudhir Shetty Kannoor ex-Chief Whip of MCC says that people were informed about the reality to prepare them mentally well in advance and not with the intention to create panic. “It was a warning in advance to the people that there may not be regular 24 hour water supply like before so that they use water judiciously”, he stated. But the revelation has certainly created panic and people wonder what the alternative is ‘if’ it does not rain in the next 15 days.
Needless to say this sudden water crisis has really come as bombshell to the people and many even attribute it to the knavery of our local elected councilors and officials. Following the recent fracas witnessed during the Mayoral election at Mangalore City Corporation and subsequent developments there on, one wonders whether the councilors and officials were too embroiled in party politics and failed to pay attention to the dwindling water levels. Is it not laxity on the part of officials of the water supply department and our representatives as they say they were oblivious of the impending water crisis facing the city? One cannot blindly accept the arguments of Yogesh Bhat and Co as gospel truth water levels come down to such precarious levels all of a sudden. If the authorities had taken cognizance of the sudden dip in water levels and if rationing was introduced in the first week of March itself the problem would not have been so acute.
Dy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly N Yogish Bhat speaking to daijiworld denied corporation politics has anything to do with the problem of water crisis. “Usually water goes down by two inches per day but this year it is going down by nearly 4 inches due to evaporation and increased consumption by people due to the onset of summer. The fact that it has not rained in December or January has resulted the inflow of water to the river and hence the shortage”, he reasoned. He, however, says there is nothing to get panicked as the Corporation has resorted to rationing and has been exploring alternative means of water supply including using the 200 odd bore wells that come under the Corporation limits.
As for the wasting of water at Bendoor Well Yogish Bhat said the pipeline was quite old and needed to be replaced by KUDCEMP which it had not done. Now the pipe is repaired temporarily and water supply is restored, he said. Yogish Bhat also assured that water supply to construction and other commercial activities will be minimized to give priority for drinking water and has requested people to cooperate to overcome this crisis.
Sudhir Shetty brushed aside the negligence factor of the officials saying it is for the first time after so many years the water level at Thumbe has come down to 8.5 ft today from a high of 12.2 ft just a fortnight ago. He says that Government has provided free water supply to rural areas and it is now estimated that 5000 pumps are used from Thumbe to Uppinangadi to pump water for various purposes. The inflow in Nethravathi has stopped completely and there is some inflow only in Kumaradhara, which has led to sudden decrease in water levels.
Former Dy Mayor of MCC and Corporator Shakila Kava says in her four years as Corporator this is the first time she has witnessed this kind of water shortage. “For the last few years I never witnessed the kind of water problem we have been facing this time around. I hope rain gods would smile on us at the earliest”, she remarked. She also remarked that even the councilors were unaware of the water crisis. “When we started getting water supply once in two days, I was under the impression that it is due to power failure. Only now I realize the problem is so grave”, Kava admitted.
Yogish Bhat says that the corporation will make use of the 200 bore wells (only 188 usable) coming under its purview to supply water. “We have appealed to builders and other commercial users to minimize their consumption. We cannot stop water for building activities all of a sudden as some might be in the crucial curing stage. We have even discussed the problem with MRPL officials and have directed them to reduce their intake to 2.5 MGD from the present 4 MGD”, Yogesh Bhat said.
Sudhir Shetty says there is nothing to get panicked as it is possible to pull on another 20/30 days by using alternative water sources available. He says there is 15.3 ft water in Sarappady dam of MRPL which can be an alternative source of water supply to the city. By using bore wells and existing water levels at Thumbe we can manage for another month or so.
However, people will have to wait till the end of 2013 to have 24X7 water supplies as promised by the corporation autorities. L N Anand, Executive Engineer of Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board Mangalore, has recently said that the new vented dam at Thumbe is expected to be ready only by the end of 2013. Sudhir Shetty says so far only 25% of the work is complete and the cost of construction has doubled from about Rs 45 crores (tendered amount) to nearly Rs. 80 crores due to various reasons including the increase in height and depth of the dam slightly than originally planned.
If this becomes operational then the city will have water storage for a period of three months from the present capacity which is sufficient only for 40 days. The accumulation of silt at the Thumbe reservoir has reduced the water storage capacity from 9 million cubic metres to 4.50 million cubic metres. Once the vented dam is complete the water storage capacity is expected to rise to 14.70 million cubic metres and would be sufficient for three months. All this will become a reality if the KUWSDB is able to complete the work by the stipulated time. Ultimately it boils down to only ‘ifs and ‘buts’ and people will have to grapple with the problem on their own.