Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (MB)
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Mangalore, Feb 22: With no prospects of water supply to the city for anothe five days, the citizens have already felt the pinch and are mentally preparing themselves for worse things to come.
The global warming experts having warned of a sultry summer in the tropical regions this summer, the water crisis in Mangalore is bound to take a critical turn.
The civic administration gets worrying about the water problem only when the summer is around the corner every year, while the rest of the year no thought is applied to any long-term plan to address the problem.
Months ago, some state ministers had made the announcement of sanction of funds for a second vented dam at Tumbe pumping station which supplies water to the city. No one knows if there are enough funds, or if they have been sanctioned where all that money has gone.
Different localities in the city were supplied with water by means of tankers on Thursday. There too accusations of discrimination were flying around. Ironically, two wards closest to the city's main waterhole, Kadri, were reportedly neglected. The two corporators, Naveen D'Souza and Ganesh Rao, staged a protest demanding immediate supply to their wards.
Children and housewives were seen carrying pots on the roads to literally 'earn' water.
The water department is working on a war-footing to solve the problem, the citizens were told. But water shortage is likely to persist until Sunday.
Earlier reports: