Increasing heat, Depleting water in DK Dams
Mangaluru: Water level is rapidly depleting in the dams across D K district due to intense heat. Thumbe dam, supplying water to the 60 wards of Mangalore municipality, has seen a rapid decrease in the water level and the extreme heat has also contributed to increased evaporation rate.
The water level in Thumbe dam which was 6m in the first week of March has seen a rapid decrease eversince. The level went down to 5.93m on Friday, 5.88m on Saturday and 5.85m on Sunday. All the gates of the dam have been closed now and the water is being pumped back from downstream continuously.
District Collector Mullai Mugilan and Zilla Panchayat CEO Dr Anand have informed that there has been no shortage of drinking water in the district till now. As it is normal for Bajpe, Kotekar and Ullal to face water scarcity in the month of March every year, water tankers have been employed to supply water to people there.
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In spite of the areas around Bantwal, Sullia, Puttur and Belthangady not facing any water scarcity, there has been a rapid decrease in the water flow in the rivers and streams in these zones. The check dams built across the various rivers in the district have enough storage of water. Payaswini River, the life line of Sullia, has seen a decrease in water flow too but its dam has enough water stored. The check dams in Belthangady supplying water to the urban areas have good water but the rivers are running low. The Netravati River near Dharmasthala saw massive death of fish due to reduced water, ten days ago. The situation is not entirely different in Puttur and Bantwal.
Continuous depletion of ground water table across the years in the district has made the bore wells run dry in summer seasons.
The water level in MMR dam, upstream of Thumbe dam, saw a reduction to 18.08m on March 16 from 18.11m on the previous day.
Traditional wells in Ullal, Kolya and Kotekar have seen reduced water from February, as usual. Many areas in Someshwara Town Panchayat are either dependent on well or bore well water. Along with this, the panchayat also supplies water through pipelines once in two days for fixed timings.
The DC has already notified that any use of water around Thumbe dam for irrigation must be immediately ceased until Mangalore city is free of a looming water crisis.
Water supply to the industries has also been asked to cut down depending on the water level in the dam.
DC Mullai Mugilan has said that as there is a reasonable water storage in Thumbe, AMR and Biliyoor dams, there shall be no immediate rationing of water in the city.
“However, the public has a huge role to play by sensible use of drinking water in this summer”, he added.
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Nana Patole resigns as Maharashtra Congress chief following assembly election setback
Mumbai: Nana Patole has stepped down as the President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, days after the party faced a severe defeat in the state assembly elections.
The party’s poor performance in the elections had raised concerns about its leadership and strategy in the state.
The Congress, which contested 101 seats as part of the MVA, posted its worst-ever defeat by managing to win only 16 seats.
