Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports Pramod Madhwaraj has said a feasibility study will be done on the construction of a third dam on river Swarna and also on bringing water from Varahi river to meet drinking water needs of Udupi city and its surrounding areas.
He was chairing a meeting of municipal councillors and officers on the drinking water problem at the Udupi City Municipal Council Hall, here on Friday.
Mr. Madhwaraj said the hydrological survey was on to study if water from Baje Dam up to the proposed Shimbra Dam on Swarna River was enough to meet the drinking water needs of the city for at least 110 days. The proposed third dam will be feasible only if it can store water for 110 days. Besides, the Swarna went dry in summer.
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The other proposal is to bring water from Varahi river as it has water through the year. But the modalities will have to be worked out on how to bring water here and its cost, he said.
CMC Commissioner D. Manjunathaiah said water from Varahi cannot be lifted from Saibrakatte village. Instead, it will have to be supplied from the Varahi Lift Irrigation Project at Bharatkal village. Any plan has to take care of the water needs of the city for the next 15 to 20 years. The city already has 565 apartments and about 9,000 households and is growing every year, he said.
S.P. Kudva, councillor, said the CMC should try to get water from Varahi instead of constructing a third dam across Swarna as the former had water round the year.
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Intervening, Mr. Madhwaraj said the State government has already sanctioned ₹80 core under Multi Village Scheme for Tenkanidiyur and Kokkarne and ₹102 crore under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project for Udupi city for drinking water.
With the availability of ₹200 crore (by clubbing the funds allocated to MVS and KUDCEMP), a plan could be drawn up for getting water from Varahi river. It would meet the needs of both Udupi city and the gram panchayats along the way. On the other hand, the Shimbra dam might be cheaper. But it was necessary to wait for a report from experts as to which of the two proposals was feasible and cheap, he said.
Meenakshi Bannanje, CMC president, Sandhya Tilakraj, vice-president, were present.