Taps in parts of Mysuru city, which get water supply from the Kabini project, have been dry for the past three days. The interruption in drinking-water distribution for 72 hours has put residents to severe hardship.
Residents are upset that there was no prior information either from the Vani Vilas Water Works (VVWW) or the Mysore City Corporation on the disruption in water supply, despite major power outage to Kabini water pumping stations.
Though engineers monitoring Kabini water supply to about 16 municipal wards (catering to a population of more than one lakh) said supply had been restored since Sunday, many localities did not get water till late Monday afternoon.
Power disruption
VVWW Assistant Executive Engineer Puttanna told The Hindu that Kabini water supply was hit because of disruption in power transmission to three pumping stations on January 24. The 12-hour outage on Saturday, and four hours of power shutdown the next day at another supply point had affected pumping and distribution to the storage reservoirs in the city.
“About 60 MLD Kabini water is pumped at Bidaragol, Kembolu and Udbur gate pumping stations. Power supply to these three stations is derived from Jayapura sub-station of Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Company (CESC), and the interruption at this sub-station hit water supply,” he said.
He, however, maintained that power supply to the stations had been restored since Sunday afternoon, with resumption of pumping.
Still, it may take sometime for the water supply to become normal. Distribution had resumed to only some parts, he clarified.
Private tankers
The areas getting Kabini water from the supply network in Kuvempunagar went without water on Monday. Many preferred to get water from private tankers in view of the functions slated on Monday, an auspicious day.
Ramakrishna Nagar, Kuvempunagar, Srirampura, J.P. Nagar and Aravinda Nagar were among the affected areas.
Junior Engineer (Kuvempunagar) Prasanna Kumar told The Hindu that water supply is expected to be restored by Tuesday as the water pumped so far was being rationed to the areas to tide over the crisis.
“It will take at least one more day for the distribution to become normal,” he said.
Though engineers claim supply has resumed, some areas still have no water
Water supply is expected to be restored in all parts of city by Tuesday