The city corporation has proposed improvements to the existing infrastructure facilities to fill up the Allipur reservoir expeditiously and ease the drinking water crisis facing the city at present.
The Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Sewage Board, which is the bulk supplier of drinking water to the corporation, has chalked out a plan to install two additional pumps and extend the pipeline by 2.9 km length, at an estimated cost of ₹10 crore, which has been approved by the corporation.
Drinking water supply to the city is met from two impounding reservoirs – Allipur and Moka – drawing water from high-level and low-level canals of Tungabhadra passing in the outskirts of the city.
Allipur reservoir quenches the thirst of about 65% of the city and the rest by Moka reservoir.
Water flows into the high-level canal for about five months while it is over 10 months in the low-level canal.
Owing to the reduced number of days of flow in the high-level canal, filling up Allipur reservoir to its full capacity, to cater to the water requirements upto the canals are opened, had become impossible with the existing infrastructure facilities.
To make good the shortfall in Allipur reservoir, the corporation had decided to draw water from the low-level canal in Moka by laying a 30-km stretch pipeline upto the water treatment plant and completed the work last year.
But, owing to the failure of rain for two consecutive years, water was not released into low-level canal for the second crop as such water could not be drawn from Moka.
The improvement proposed was to ensure that the water from low-level canal could be utilised to fill up the Allipur reservoir after the high level canal is closed.
The work was expected to be started shortly, according to J. Veeranagouda, Executive Engineer, KUWSSB.
