IN ACTION: A diver equipped with an underwater camera helping engineers to fix leaks at the Thumbe reservoir near Mangalore on Tuesday.

MANGALORE: Mangalore city is likely to face shortage of water. The water level at the Thumbe reservoir is 9.10 ft as against the maximum of 13 ft. In April last year the water level was 11.2 ft.

Mangalore Mayor Vijaya Arun and Health Committee chairman Mahabala Maarla, who visited the Thumbe vented dam built across the Nethravathi here on Tuesday, expressed concern that the city might face water shortage this year also.

The Mayor told presspersons that the water in the reservoir would last for 25 days as the Mangalore City Corporation was supplying water on alternate days.

The Mayor later visited the reservoir built at Sarapady (upstream of Thumbe) by Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL).

She said that MRPL had raised the height of the dam by a few feet and this had brought down the inflow into the Thumbe reservoir.

Ms. Arun said that she was not aware of this development. She said that the corporation's engineers had told her that the MRPL's dam was 2.56 ft higher than the Thumbe dam and its water holding capacity was almost equal to that of the Thumbe dam, which was 13 ft high.

Ms. Arun she would investigate as to who authorised MRPL to raise the height of its dam.

The officials of MRPL at Sarapady told the Mayor that the dam had two sluice gates and they were being opened periodically to release water to the Thumbe reservoir. They said that another dam that was coming up between Thumbe and Sarapady was blocking the water. The new dam was being constructed at Shamboor by a hydel power project company of Andhra Pradesh, Ms. Arun said and added that the "boat canal" which existed between Sarapady and Thumbe had been blocked by the company.

According to the corporation engineers, the inflow to the Thumbe reservoir was usually at least 15 to 16 cusecs during this time of the year. But the MRPL dam and the dam at Shamboor had cut the inflow, they said.

Ms. Arun said she would speak to the Deputy Commissioner about the two dams, as they were not in the jurisdiction of the MCC.

Leaks

Meanwhile, the corporation has started work to fix the leaks at the Thumbe dam.

In-charge engineer of the reservoir Linge Gowda said that the dam, completed in 1993, was losing 1 cusec of water every day because of the leaks.

The corporation has engaged an engineering firm from Chennai to scan the spots where the water was leaking. Divers, equipped with underwater video and still cameras, are helping the engineers to pin point the leaks and take remedial action. Mr. Gowda hoped that the leaks would be fixed with in a week. This would also help to cope with the water crisis, he said.

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