Udupi receives light rain

Shower brings relief from sweltering heat of last few weeks

Light rain in the early hours brought down the temperature from the sweltering heat of the last few weeks here on Friday. The climate remained cloudy in the city for most part of the day.

There was light rain, accompanied by lightning, from 3.20 a.m. till the break of dawn.

According to the information provided by the district administration, Udupi received a rainfall of 21.3 mm, while Kundapur and Karkala received 42.7 mm and 33.1 mm, in the last 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. on Friday. However, the drinking water situation in Udupi city is not going to be helped by such light rain.

K. Ganesh, Assistant Engineer, Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC), told

The Hindu that there was no inflow in the Swarna, which provided water to the city. Whatever rain fell was absorbed by the land, which had been dry for a long time.

Either there should be heavy rain in the Western Ghats or on the way where the river flowed. “Presently, the water in the holes of the river bed of Swarna in places such as Bhandarybettu, Mane, and Puttige are enough to meet the drinking water needs of the city for the next 10 days,” he said.

The Swarna River, which originates in the Western Ghats, flows down through Karkala town, then to Udupi city and finally in to the Arabian Sea.

Mundli Dam

Mable D’Souza, Chief Officer, Karkala Town Municipal Council (TMC), told The Hindu that the water in the Swarna at Mundli Dam had dried up. The TMC was lifting water from Ramasumdra lake in the town. The water in the lake was enough to last for about a month. Water was being supplied to the town on alternate days, while a couple of tankers supplied water to houses in the up-lying areas in Karkala town, Ms. D’Souza said.