Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, said on Thursday that the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) would soon have to ration water supply as the water level in the Baje Dam against the river Swarna which supplied water to Udupi city was declining.
Speaking to presspersons after visiting the dam here, Mr. Madhwaraj said that the water level in the dam was 5.62 metres on February 16, 2016, but today it stood at 5.32 metres, which was a drop of 30 centimetres. The height of the dam is 6.2 metres.
The present water in the reservoir at Baje would be enough till April-end. Water would be pumped from two big holes on the riverbed near Shiroor to Baje dam and that would provide water for another 20 days. A spell of rain in April would help the CMC to provide water to the city till the end of May. Efforts would be made to see if water could be pumped from Yerlapady area to Baje.
The water pumping station here pumped water round the clock. But any disruption of power supply affected water supply. Hence water rationing also will have to take this factor into consideration.
He had also talked to the Managing Director of Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM) and had directed him to provide uninterrupted power supply to the water pumping station here from the power line at Hiriyadka and from the express corridor power line.
Already, the government had sanctioned Rs. 102 crore under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP) to construct a dam at Shimbra against Swarna, eight overhead tanks and improving water distribution in the city. The proposed dam at Shimbra should have a capacity of storing water required for at least 45 days. But a hydrological survey had to be done for the proposed dam. After the survey gave a nod for the dam, a Detailed Project Report (DPR) would then be prepared and tenders floated.
Already 550 faulty metres had been replaced in the city. A bulk metre would be installed at the pumping station here also to see how much water was being pumped and how much was being supplied to plug any theft of water. Desilting of the dam could not be taken up now as it would make existing water dirty, Mr. Madhwaraj said.
Meenakshi Bannanje, CMC President, was present.
