With the water level in the Baje Dam across the Swarna dropping, there is now enough to meet the drinking water needs of Udupi city for just about five days.
Water is presently being pumped from large holes on the Swarna riverbed to the dam, from where it is treated at the treatment plant and then supplied to the city.
The city has been divided into six zones and the Udupi municipality is supplying water to each of these zones once in six days, in turns, for about a month and a half now. Water in upper areas of the city is being supplied with the help of tankers.
Anand Kallolikar, Udupi Municipal Commissioner, told The Hindu that water in the Swarna was expected to last for about five days. If this got completely exhausted, the municipality would have to depend on some open wells and borewells in the city that have water in them. But even this water was expected to last for about four to five days. “We are hoping and praying that there are rains as soon as possible so that the drinking water problem is solved,” he said.
It may be noted that the municipality provided water through tankers only to individual houses, while the multi-storied buildings had been dependent on tankers to meet their drinking water needs.
Meanwhile, the shortage of drinking water has also affected schools in Udupi and its surroundings the most. About 30% of the 1,242 schools have been facing water shortage in Udupi and Brahmavar taluks and in a portion of Byndoor taluk.
Sheshashayana K., Deputy Director of Public Instruction, said that the Udupi municipality and the gram panchayats where these schools were located had been directed to provide drinking water and these schools were being provided water with the help of tankers.
Meanwhile, K. Raghupati Bhat, MLA, visited the Baje dam area, inspected the water level, and made arrangements to pump water to the dam.
