MYSORE: The failure of the authorities to complete work on an emergency drinking water pumping station at Hongalli near the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) even a year after the lapse of the original deadline has raised concerns over the preparedness of the Mysore City Corporation in supplying drinking water during summer.

A recent visit by Mysore Agenda Task Force (MATF) members and the Mysore MP, C.H. Vijayshankar, to Hongalli, where the emergency pumping station is coming up to help provide drinking water in the event of water level in the KRS falling below 68 feet, revealed that the project remains incomplete.

"When KRS water-level falls below 68 feet, the Hongalli pumping station can pump water only from the riverbed. This is when the emergency pumping station will be put to use," the MATF members said. Although the Rs. 85-lakh project was to have been in place before April 2004, it is unfortunate that the emergency pumping station is not ready even after one year after the deadline, the MATF members said.

Mysore receives 90 million litres a day from Hongalli. If the water level dips below 68 feet in the KRS like it happened a couple of years ago, the Hongalli pumping station has to pump water from the riverbed. One emergency pump, which is operational, can pump about 45 million litres a day.

The failure of the authorities to complete work on the second emergency pumping station has raised fears about a water scarcity in the city in the event of a crisis.

The MATF's Water Supply and Sanitary Working Group, in a press release, has pointed out that the water-level in the KRS stood at 73.08 feet on Friday.

The available water in the reservoir should last at least till June first week. Apart from the failure of the authorities to complete the emergency pumping project, the demand for water from the KRS by farmers in neighbouring Mandya district has become a cause for concern for the civic authorities in Mysore.

The "surreptitious" release of water from the KRS to irrigate farmlands in Mandya for one month, depleting the water-level in the reservoir, has angered the Mayor, Dakshinamurthy.

Taking serious note of the release of water from the KRS to Mandya by the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam in violation of the Irrigation Consultative Committee (ICC) schedule, Mr. Dakshinamurthy plans to lead a delegation to the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, and the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, and register a protest. A meeting has been convened by the Mayor on May 2. Councillors, senior citizens and MATF members will participate in the meeting.

Complaining that 3,000 to 4,000 cusecs of water a day was released to Mandya for several days, Mr. Dakshinamurthy said the release of 3,000 cusecs a day for four days will deplete water-level in the KRS by 1 tmcft. "So far, 2 tmcft of water has been released in such a sly manner," he said.

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