President of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) Meenakshi Bannanje said on Tuesday that the CMC would within a week or two decide on supplying drinking water to the city on alternate days. Water to the city is supplied from two dams built across the Swarna river at Baje about 18 km from here and upstream at Shiroor about 25 km from here. The dam at Baje is the Swarna First Stage, while that at Shiroor is Swarna Second Stage.
Speaking to presspersons here, Ms. Bannanje said that there was about 25% deficient rainfall this year when compared to last year. Hence, the CMC had constructed a one-metre bund near Shiroor village to conserve more water.
The height of the bund was being reduced daily to allow flow of the water to the reservoirs at both Shiroor and Baje.
The height of the water in the Baje reservoir was now 5.3 metres compared to 5.9 metres on the same day last year.
Hence, it had become essential to switch to supplying drinking water on alternate days so that the stock of the water in the reservoirs was enough to last till the end of May.
In addition to this, the CMC had also identified about 40 wells in different parts of the city, which had perennial water supply. The water from these wells would first be tested to check if it was potable. Only after getting results from the lab, the water from the wells, which was found potable, could also be pumped and supplied through tankers. Besides these measures, the CMC has already drilled borewells in Anantnagar, Nittur, Duglipadavu and some other places to ensure water supply in those areas.
Given that water was scarce, the people in the city should stop using water for watering their gardens, washing their vehicles and in general take measures to stop wastage of water.
“We hope there were will be some rains in the coming months and that would help in filling the reservoirs,” Ms. Bannanje said.
Janardhan Bhandarkar, municipal councillor and Satish Amin Padukere, president of Block Congress Committee, were present.
