To provide a lasting solution to drinking water shortage during summer, Minister for Water Resources M.B. Patil has said that pipelines will be laid close to the dead storage level in the Almatti dam to draw water.
Addressing a press conference at the dam site on Sunday after holding a review meeting with officials from his department, Mr. Patil said that after detailed discussion, the Ministry has found this option viable.
He said that during summer when the water level falls in the reservoirs, it was difficult to supply drinking water through canals to storage tanks as the tanks were built at a higher altitude.
“Lifting water to these tanks remains the only solution but that is not a permanent one. The best permanent solution is to lay pipelines from the dead storage level to the storage tanks which would help in supplying water without lifting it,” Mr. Patil said.
He said that the plan was still in a nascent stage and hoped that it would be ready by next summer.
The Minister said that the cost of the project to supply water under this new scheme to Vijayapura city and parts of Bagalkot district would be borne by his Ministry.
Mr. Patil said that his Ministry has suggested this plan to officials in charge of other reservoirs in the State to tackle drinking water crisis during summer. He said that while the new proposal was to provide a permanent solution, there is a ₹ 2.5-crore plan to provide temporary solution to lift water from the Almatti dam to the Kolhar jackwell to provide drinking water to Vijayapura city.
The Minister said that a decision has been taken to build a new barrage at Galagali with one tmcft capacity and another at Tinthani with four tmcft capacity to help store more water.
Water from Maharashtra
Mr. Patil said that Maharashtra has released around 2.36 tmcft of water to Karnataka from Koyna dam, though Karnataka had demanded 2 tmcft more water which will help it store water in Kolhar barrage.
