Mangalore: The Heat is on - Water in Tumbe Dam Sufficient only for 25 Days !
from our special correspondent (MB)
Pics Dayanand Kukkaje
Mangalore, Apr 11: If the citizens have already been feeling the heat of the scorching, humid summer, there is further bad news in store.
City mayor Vijaya Arun, corporators and officials visited the sites of the Tumbe vented dam and another two sites on Tuesday and assessed the water crisis likely to hit the city and surrounding areas.
It came to light that the present inflow into the dam could take care of the water demand of the city and around for only 25 days. The water level in the dam has been depleting by two inches every day. The level, as on Tuesday, was 9 feet 2 inches.
The seepage and leakage problem is being tackled with the assistance of experts from Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). The inflow of water is abysmally low, or even practically nil at the moment.
The mayor's team visited the Tumbe dam, MRPL's Sarapady dam and AMR Electric Company's Shambhur dam under construction. Former mayors and sitting corporators Purandardas Kulur, Diwakar and Abdul Aziz, standing committee heads Mahabala Marla and Deepak Poojary, other corporators Lancelot Pinto and S Appi, accompanied by officials, were present with them.
The water leaking from the dam is being pumped back into the catchment, it was revealed. The leaking spots have been identified with the help of TV cameras and they would be splashed on screen for immediate control measures.
The 15.56 foot-high MRPL dam at Sarapady is full, with water overflowing downstream, but it does not reach Tumbe.
Difference of opinions was heard between the MRPL and the locals regarding the height of the Sarapady dam. While the locals allege that the firm had raised the height of the dam by 2 metres, the MRPL clarified that it was only 1 foot. But the locals insist that the firm has been raising the height by a foot every year. Ironically, neither the mayor nor the officials had any clear idea about this matter.
The AMR dam at Shambhur is being erected between the Sarapady and Tumbe dams. In response to complaints that water was not being allowed to flow downstream, the mayor paid a visit to Shambhur also. She noticed that water was being allowed to flow.
Speaking to mediapersons, Vijaya Arun said that there was enough water in the river catchment, but the only problem was of power shutdowns. The leakage problem has been plugged and the water would be sufficient for another 25 days. If, in the meantime, monsoons favoured, there would be interim relief, she added.
The MRPL has been requested not to disturb the regular supply of water to Tumbe dam. She also said the attention of the district's deputy commissioner would be drawn to complaints that MRPL had been steadily raising the height of the dam over the years.
Local leader Sarapady Subbanna Shetty complained that because of the government having allowed commercial and industrial firms to make use of the Netravati river water, the people of the river basin area had faced water shortage.
MRPL official A G Pai, who was present on the spot assured that the firm would not fail to cooperate in times of water crisis. He reminded the officials that in view of the water shortage in the past years, one of the refinery units had been kept out of function since 2004. When the city faced scarcity in 2006, MRPL had released water from its dam. Now on too, the firm would certainly release water when shortage would be reported. But the final decision would have to be taken by the company chairman, he further said. In the meantime, he suggested, efforts should be made at once to de-silt the water resources areas and ferry points to improve the inflow.