Drinking water issue : Water sufficient only for two weeks, supply on alternate days, says Madhwaraj

Udupi : A meeting on drinking water issues was held on Friday May 5 at Sathyamurthy Memorial Hall in the city municipal council building here. The meeting was chaired by district in-charge minister, Pramod Madhwaraj.

Madhwaraj noted that the water at Baje reservoir on which the city is dependent for its water requirement, has reached dead storage level.

He added that taking into consideration that water from River Swarna would not be sufficient for the drinking water requirement of the city, drinking water supply projects worth Rs 102 crore will be implemented soon under Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP) scheme.

Janardhan Bhandarkar, who stated that there are 8000 apartments in the city, advised the city municipal council to check their water supply sources.

A quick decision will be taken on third stage of Swarna river project, which involves diverting Varahi river water to Shimbra dam to augment water resources of the city, the minister stated.

He instructed the officials of the city municipal council to temporarily acquire private wells to manage water problems.

The Baje dam water level is 1.5 meters less than the last year's level during this month. It will be enough only till May 20. Dredging works are going on in many places, which will help to manage water for few days for the city, he stated.

CMC Commissioner, Manjunathayya, president, Meenakshi Madhav Bannanje and vice president, Sandhya were present at the meeting.