The Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat has made Malavoor Vented dam across Phalguni (Gurupura) River off Airport Road out of bounds for general public to ensure the safety of public as well as the source of drinking water to villages.
Till recently, one could see anglers catching fish with their angles in the backwater as well as the water in the downstream standing on the vented dam as well as embankments. The vented dam also connected residents of Padushedde and other surrounding places on the southern bank with Airport Road.
The ZP has now erected an enclosure at the entrance of the vented dam on the northern bank near the pump house with gates that are kept locked. On the southern bank, the stock yard of M/s Mugrodi Constructions acts as a barrier to enter the vented dam. When The Hindu visited the dam on November 27, there was not a single soul engaged in angling and other activities.
“The vented dam was not built to act as a bridge; but purely to store drinking water under the multi-village drinking water scheme,” said G. Narendra Babu, Executive Engineer, Rural Drinking Water Supply with the ZP. Movement of people was allowed till recently as there was no connectivity for villagers of Padushedde and surrounding villages to Airport Road. With the recent completion of a road and a small bridge from Padushedde, people could easily reach Airport at Marakada, he said.
Public safety was a concern as the dam did not have any railings and there were every chance of mishaps. There were chances of people removing the vent gates thereby draining out stored drinking water too. Some people used to indulge in partying near the dam and throwing trash into the backwater thereby polluting drinking water source, Mr. Babu said.
Though conceptualised in 2002 under Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Scheme, the dam got completed in 2012-13 and was commissioned only in 2017. Completed at a cost of Rs. 42.5 crore, the 199 mt-long dam with 80 vents holds 1.25 million cubic metres of water. Treated water from the dam was being supplied to 14 surrounding villages including Bajpe, Jokatte, Malavoor, Kenjaru, Permude, Kuthethoor, Moodushedde, Padushedde, Tenka Yekkaru, Badaga Yekkaru, Bala, Kalavara, Soorinje and Delanthabettu.
