'Failure of pre-monsoon rain adds to water crisis'

District In-charge Minister U T Khader said that the failure of pre-monsoon shower has aggravated the water crisis in the district.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, he said that the current water rationing system will make the water from Thumbe vented dam sufficient till June 6. The rationing in the month of April has helped the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) manage the crisis a little.

The MCC is using 20 tankers for areas facing shortage and will use five more tankers for supply.

It has cleaned and repaired 14 open wells. The authorities have let 15 borewells be sunk. Six borewells that are sunk had about four inches of water, he added.

More borewells

“A geologist has been asked to submit a report on sinking additional borewells in the city. Mescom was asked to give immediate power connections to lift water from new borewells. A meeting will be held on Monday to review the crisis and preparation for monsoon,” he said.

“The government is monitoring the water crisis. After the meeting, more funds will be sought to tackle the crisis. On mitigating the crisis, a series of check dams will be built under the Paschima Vahini project at about Rs 200 crore. All the work on check dams are in tender stage. Once the bridge cum barrage between Harekala – Adyara is completed, the storage capacity will improve,” Khader said.

He said Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade has appealed to the devotees to postpone their visit to Dharmasthala, to ensure that they do not face any inconvenience. In case of necessity, the district administration and the government will extend all helping hand to Dharmasthala.

“I have learnt of the water crisis in Dharmasthala. I will discuss it in detail with Dharmadhikari,” he assured.

Costly affair

Khader said sea water desalination plant was an expensive project.

“The files are pending. Water supply from the desalination unit to the consumer will not be viable,” he added.