Dakshina Kannada’s first multi-village water supply project which will supply drinking water to 20 villages across eight gram panchayats in Mangalore taluk is expected to be operational by the year-end.
The project envisages lifting of water from Shambhavi River at Balkunje, near Kinnigoli, and supplying it to 52 overhead tanks built in those villages much faster through a newly laid 74 km of pipeline network . The respective gram panchayats in turn will distribute water from overhead tanks to houses using their existing network of pipelines.
2002 study
According to S.L. Sathyanarayana, Executive Engineer, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, which has taken up the project, it was conceived after a study in 2001-02 by Bapuji Institute of Engineering, Davangere found high iron content in some borewells in these areas. In addition, borewells in some of those villages — like in Haleyangady, Padu Panambur, Ballunje and Guttakadu — dried up in summer. Supplying water through overhead tanks would address both the issues.
He said the project would be completed by the end of this year. The scope of this project covered lifting water from a jack well (a well in the river used to store water) at Balkunje on the Shambhavi, pumping water from there to the treatment plant at Kullur Padavu which is located 4.8 km away, pumping treated water to an overhead tank on the premises of treatment plant and from there distributing water to the overhead tanks in villages.
As Kullur Padavu is on a higher plane, water will flow into the tanks because of gravitational force. The jack well will get water from an old vented dam downstream, across the Shambhavi.The 20 villages that will benefit from the scheme are: Haleyangady, Pavanje, Padu Panambur, Bellaiur, Kilpady, Athrikaribettu, Shimanthoor, Kemral, Kinnigoli, Talipady, Yelathur, Balkunje, Kavathar, Aikala, Uleppady, Yelinge, Mannabettu, Kondemula, Nadugodu and Kilinjaru.
