Closure of vented dam gates ahead of schedule averted possible drinking water scarcity, says Udupi DC

Udupi District Deputy Commissioner prevents acute water scarcity by closing vented dam gates early, securing funds for drought relief.

Udupi District Deputy Commissioner K. Vidyakumari on Friday, May 17, said a possible acute water scarcity was avoided in the district as the administration decided to close gates of vented dams by October itself instead of the usual closure in January.

“We had realised by July-end itself that it would be a tough situation in the coming days, during the monthly meetings of department heads, as the monsoon was playing truant. Therefore we decided to close vented dam gates built across the West-flowing rivers in the district by October-end to impound water as much as possible,” she said while speaking at the “Meet the Press” programme organised by the Udupi District Working Journalists Association and Udupi Press Club at Udupi.

Ms. Vidyakumari said while Karkala and Hebri taluks were categorised as severely drought-affected, Brahmavara taluk was categorised as moderately affected. The administration had sent all the necessary proposals to the State government to tackle the drought situation in the district, she said.

The government too responded quickly by releasing sufficient funds to tackle the drought with ₹4.5 crore being made available to tackle the drinking water supply in the three affected taluks, the DC said. The administration resorted to water rationing in Udupi Municipality from May 4 as the district did not receive the expected amount of summer showers, she added.

Ms. Vidyakumari said the administration has ‘Plan B’ in place for Udupi if the rain gets further delayed. Water from Ramasamudra Lake in Karkala would be drawn through Swarna to Baje Dam to tackle such an eventuality. In Byndoor Town Panchayat, water was being supplied through tankers in 10 wards, she added.

The administration was also prepared to tackle the rain fury as the monsoon would soon hit the district, the DC said. An amount of ₹13 crore was available from the State Disaster Relief Fund for the administration with each taluk being allocated ₹50 lakh each to undertake emergency works.

Zilla Panchayat CEO Prateek Bayal said sufficient precaution was taken to prevent water scarcitiy in rural areas. Water was being supplied through tankers in some areas of 23 gram panchayats, he added.