Water to industries cut by half!

Team Udayavani, Mar 29, 2019, 4:52 PM IST

Mangaluru: In order to prevent the possibility of drinking water shortage to the city, the district administration has decided to provide cut in half the amount of water being provided to the industries as a precautionary measure. Accordingly, notification has been sent to industries using 18 mgd water to use only 10 mgd of water from the middle of April.

Water rationing to industries has been started since the water inflow at Thumbay dam as reduced, there has been no rainfall this term and hence the precautionary measure has been taken to prevent the city from facing any water problems.

Decision to save 3 mgd water

Along with AMR dam at Shamboor and Thumbay dam, altogether 18 mgd of water is being used by the industries. In order to prevent any water problem to the city, the water supply to the industries has been reduced to 15 mgd since Monday. Thus, it has been decided to save 3 mgd of water daily. From April 1^st onwards, this amount of water will be further decreased to 13 mgd. From April 15^th onwards, DK district administration has notified for the water supply to be reduced to 10.5 mgd.

In the backdrop of the cut in water supply to the industries, corporation officials have been appointed to supervise the process. They will be doing their duties in 2 shifts, day and night.

How much water to the industries?

Till now, 160 million liters per day (mld) water is being supplied to the city. In terms of the million gallons per day, 160 mld amounts to 35 mgd. 2 mgd of water was being provided to MCF, 0.5 mgd to NMPT and 1 mgd of water was being provided to other industries from Thumbay dam.

6 mgd of water is provided to MRPL, 8 mgd water is provided to the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) from AMR dam near Bantwal. Thus a total of 18 mgd of water is being provided to various industries from Thumbay and AMR dams.

196 bore well; 90 open wells

As per the current statistics, there are 196 bore wells of which 137 are in the city while 59 are in Surathkal. Along with the water being supplied to the city from Thumbay dam, water is also being supplied from these bore wells. 90 open wells have been already identified in the city which can be used for government, private and drinking water purposes. The district administration has directed to give special attention to these water sources.

Limit use of water

By using water correctly and through conservation, the resource can be managed properly. Without wasting water and by taking precautionary measures, the available water needs to be mostly used for drinking purpose, at least until the beginning of the monsoon. More emphasis also needs to be given towards the careful usage of water.

Cut in water to industries

“Notification has been sent to immediately reduce the amount of water being provided to the industries. If there is rain in the month of April, the city should not face any water problem in the future. If at all the present conditions persist, then water rationing is inevitable in the month of May,” informed Sasikanth Senthil, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner

Mangaluru to experience rationing from May?

In the backdrop of the severe drop in the water inflow in Netravati River, all the gates at Thumbay dam were closed in the middle of November month and water was stored at the level of 6 meters. Currently the water at Thumbay dam is near 5.8 meters. Since 60-70 days remain for the beginning for the monsoons season and in case the water availability at AMR dam at Shamboor and Disha dam reduces, naturally the city may face a shortage in the supply of drinking water. In case there is rain in April, the fear of the lack of water will be kept at bay. But, if there are no rains and if the temperatures keep rising, water rationing is inevitable in the month of May. In other words, water may be provided once in two days, inform sources from the corporation.