Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA, said on Tuesday that water will be provided daily to Udupi and its seven neighbouring villages as the water level in the Baje dam across river Swarna has risen steadily in the last few days.
Speaking to presspersons here, Mr. Madhwaraj said that the CMC had started providing water on alternate days since March 7 as the water level had declined in the dam. The Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) had also written to the district administration to reconnect the irrigation pumpsets of the farmers living on the sides of the Swarna river. These connections had been cut off following the shortage of water in the river.
In order to meet the water needs of the city for the next 30 years, the government had appointed a retired superintending engineer Rama Iyengar as a consultant to study the matter. As per his suggestion, the government would construct a third dam (or third stage) across River Swarna near End Point in Manipal. This would help in storing 3 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water.
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The storage capacity of the first dam or first stage at Baje is just 1 tmcft, while that of the second dam at Shiroor is merely 0.5 tmcft. The water stored in the first and second stages was enough to meet the requirements of the city for 70 days. But when the third stage would be constructed, it would meet the requirements for 120 days.
In addition to the Swarna third stage, the government would also be providing water from Varahi River to Udupi city. The canal of Varahi River was there upto Saibrakatte village. The water from this canal would be lifted through a 25-km long pipeline to Udupi. This would also meet the water requirements of Brahmavar and Saligrama towns enroute. Though water in the Swarna dried up during summer, the water in Varahi was available throughout the year. A detailed project report for both the Swarna Third Stage and Varahi drinking water supply line was being prepared.