Will water scarcity force Manipal varsity closure now

Will water scarcity force Manipal varsity closure now

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, May 15 , 2016 : If it does not rain, water supply to Manipal University will be stopped from Monday.

Reports say that at present, the water from first stage Baje Dam is supplied to the university; the dam is maintained by the varsity. The university uses a large quantity of water from Swarna river for its hospitals and hostels. With water levels falling drastically at the dam, the City Municipal Council cut off the supply for five hours a day.

An engineer from CMC said on May 14, Saturday: "The university is getting water for just three hours. If there is no rain in the coming days,  water supply to the university will be cut off from may 16, Monday. We expect rain in atleast the catchment area across the Swarna. Usually, the university uses 2.7 lakh litre per hour; they pay Rs 15 for 1 kilo litre. Other consumers pay Rs 7.5 for for the first 8,000 litres. We have given them water from the entire first stage. They pump for almost 15 hours."

The water level at the dam on May 14, Saturday dipped to 2.08 metres. At present, the water is only enough to meet the requirement of the citizens, he added
A senior manager for water supply, Manipal University, told media the university has 32 borewells, out of which 26 have enough water.

The person said, "We run it for 24 hours. This is the first time that the university is facing a crisis. We are using water from 12 tankers and are getting hardly 1 lakh litres of water per day from CMC,"

"If CMC snaps the water connection completely, we have to depend more on private tankers. At present, for hospitals, we require 10 lakh litres of water per day and for hostels 12 lakh litres per day. By May 18, the exams will be over and the students will vacate the hostels, after which our consumption will drastically reduce," it was stated.