Water storage enough for summer: Mayor

Premananda Shetty performs Ganga Puja at Thumbe Pumping Station

Mayor Premananda Shetty said on Tuesday that the current water storage at Thumbe vented dam and at AMR Hydel Power Project’s vented dam at Shambhoor, which is on the upstream of the Thumbe, is enough for supplying drinking water to the city till June 15.

Hence, Mangaluru City Corporation can manage with the existing water storage till mid-June in case there is zero inflow in the Netravathi due to delay in the commencement of monsoon, he said.

Speaking after performing Ganga Puja for the Netravathi at the Thumbe Pumping Station, the Mayor asked people to make judicious use of water during April-May. If people have access to open well water or borewell water, that should be made use of to reduce the demand for the river water being supplied from the Thumbe, he said.

The Mayor said that the city did not face water scarcity during the summers of 2020 and 2021 as many industries had shut down their operations due to the lockdown. As all industrial operations have resumed now and more houses and other establishments have been built, the demand for water will only increase year after year.

Mr. Shetty said that once the on-going ₹35.51 crore water supply projects, taken up with funds drawn from Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Scheme, at the Thumbe are completed, the city will get an additional 10 MLD (million litres per day) of water from the Thumbe dam in addition to the existing 160 MLD of water pumped from the dam.

The on-going projects are expected to be completed in the next three months.

Some of the projects under way include upgrading capacity of 10 MLD jackwell built in 1956 to 20 MLD; replacing the pumpsets, panels, electrical transformers linked to the jackwell; rejuvenating 81.7 MLD capacity and 80 MLD capacity water treatment plants at Ramalkatte, near Thumbe, and laying pipelines from the Thumbe Pumping Station to Ramalkatte treatment plants.