Inflow in to Thumbe dam poor, early water rationing only way

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Mar 07, 2017: MCC Commissioner Mohammed Nazeer  told reporters that the inflow of water has come down to 0.521 cusecs. The water level in the dam stands at 4.8 metre. As a precautionary measure, the MCC will announce its plan on rationing of water supply soon. 

The water storage at Thumbe vented dam and at AMR Power Pvt Ltd’s vented dam at Shambhoor on the upstream of Thumbe is sufficient for supplying water for 132 days. In the backdrop of deficit monsoon last year, the MCC is taking all precautionary measures to face any kind of emergency, he added. The city is comparatively better when compared to other urban areas in the state that are already facing acute shortage of water. 

Mayor Harinath, who will complete his one-year tenure on Thursday, hoped the city will not face water shortage this year.  The district administration has already appealed to MRPL to advance its annual maintenance shutdown during the summer, so that water drawn from Shambhoor dam will be reduced. Anticipating water crisis, the MCF has already taken up its annual maintenance of 45 days. This in turn will help the city corporation to use water for drinking purpose rather than supplying it for industrial use. About 2 MGD water is being supplied to MCF from Thumbe, he explained.

It may be recalled that when the city faced acute water scarcity last summer, hostels of educational institutions were forced to send students home and industries had stopped production temporarily.

Construction debris : To a query on construction debris being dumped beside  roads, Mayor Harinath and Standing Committee for Town Planning chairman Lancelot Pinto said the MCC has identified two acres of land near Kunjathbail for the dumping of construction debris.

The city corporation council in February had passed a proposal for the construction of road at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore, to the site identified for the purpose. The public can dump the debris at the site by paying a fixed amount to the MCC, he said.

Civic workers’ salary : Nazeer said the government has issued a set of guidelines to all the urban local bodies to make the payment for the civic workers directly by entering into a tripartite agreement. Accordingly, the 631 civic workers employed by Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt Ltd (agency that has been entrusted with the responsibility of door-to-door garbage collection) will be paid directly by the MCC from April 1.  He said the direction of the government comes following the complaints on contract agencies failing to make proper payment to the civic workers in various urban local bodies.
Manipal University shortens semester duration : As per information gathered,   Manipal University has shortened the duration for the even semester as a precautionary measure to prevent water shortage in the months of April and May.  The university has been facing acute water scarcity in summer for past three years.   Manipal Institute of Technology’s (MIT) academic calendar has holidays setting in two weeks early. School of Communication (SOC) has reduced the current semester’s duration by almost a month.

Udupi City Municipal Corporation (CMC) provides staggered supply of water to the campus for a period of three hours per day. Following this, the university has been compelled to provide tanker water and also tap water drawn from some borewells available in the vicinity.  The university has now sought to tackle the crisis by shortening the semester’s duration. The semester commenced early, but the number of days have been decreased.

The university has also taken up novel campaigns to create awareness among students for judicious use of water. Posters carrying messages of ’Save water’ and circulars on effective management of water have been posted on the walls of the hostels.

The university’s ’Green Manipal’ initiative to ecologically sustain its campuses involves an elaborate waste water management system. The programme enables water harvesting units and also sewage treatment plants to recycle and reuse sewage water. Even after all these efforts taken towards sustainability of water management, the university has been facing water problems every summer.