The Hindu

Mangalore, May 2: It is time the Mangalore City Corporation addressed the problems related to water supply in the city.

Every year, Mangalore city faces water shortage for nearly six months, between the end of December and the end of May. During this period, the issue of water scarcity dominates the corporation council meetings. The Government this year had to ask the Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) to release water into the Thumbe reservoir as the city was in the grip of a severe water crisis after the water level in the Thumbe reservoir dropped to 5 ft on Saturday.

On Sunday MRPL released water into the Thumbe reservoir. In other cities it is usually the Government that calls the shots when it comes to release of water to industries, the first priority being water for human and animal consumption.

While the MRPL has released water into the Thumbe reservoir from its own dam upstream, the situation has raised some questions regarding the right of the corporation to regulate the flow of water into the reservoir, which supplies drinking water to over 5 lac people.

In another situation, the corporation was unable to prevent illegal water connections being drawn from its 18-million gallons a day (MGD) line despite the fact that Mayor K Ashraf and a team of senior corporators were able to detect the illegal connections for Saripalla and Maripalla villages. These villages get 2 MGD of water for just 600 families (around 1,800 people) in each village, while over 5 lac people have to share the 18-MGD water line.

With respect to the second vented dam, the Government has offered to give Rs 30 crore towards the Rs 40-crore dam and the corporation has to bear Rs 10 crore.

According to former Mayor Purandaradas Kulur, his council (2005-06) had set aside Rs 10 crore, which can be released immediately to begin construction of the dam. N Yogish Bhat, MLA of Mangalore, and district in-charge Minister Nagaraj Shetty have spoken to the Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa regarding the issue.