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No crystal water anymore
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Mangalore, once a small town of beautiful rivulets, is turning into a city of dirty drains
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THIS WAS once a small town with crystal clear water flowing beautifully in many of its rivulets. And that is how one would like to remember the town. But as towns turn into cities things have to happen and Mangalore is no exception: real estate activity is flourishing in Mangalore in the last few years at such a pace that you see more buildings than rivulets. And as the buildings come, the rivulets are turning into sewage carriers. Sad, but true, that people dump waste into these knowing well that they should not.
Alake Thodu
Alake Thodu that flows from Bejai to Alake, and joins the Gurupur, is a rivulet gone haywire. It originates at Kadri and drains rainwater from Bejai, Kodiyalaguthu, Canara High School and Car Street areas, Dongarakeri, and Alake into the Gurupur. People here recall that the rivulet drained almost one-third of the rainwater as well as the fact that pure and clean water flowed through it 30 years ago. They now see sewage, plastic, garbage, and invariably, mosquitoes. Obviously, they do not use the water - not even for cleaning purposes. Some other water bodies in the city too have turned into drains — the Kodiyalaguthu, for instance. It would be full during the rainy season and drain the excess rainwater. It would also sustain lush paddy fields along its banks. Senior citizens here are aware of the environmental consequences that will follow from dumping waste and are pushing for proper maintenance of storm-water drains.
Excess silt
The storm-water drains or "thodus" had grass and wild growth along them. As the city developed, the vegetation was cut, causing soil erosion during rains. Many small storm-water drains were filled with silt in the process. An engineer with the City Corporation says the city had nine major storm-water drains that drained water into the Gurupur, Nethravathi, and Pavanje rivers. The length of these drains was 110 km.. Rainwater from Alake, Pandeshwar, Kuloor, Kavoor, Jeppinamogaru, Kannur, Adyar, Surathkal, and Vamanjoor flow through canals into these rivulets, which, today, unfortunately are mostly drains.
An underground drainage system was built in some areas of the city in 1970 taking into account a period of 25 years of the growth of the city. Time has now come to expand this system. 0A few residents of Alake have already taken initiative by setting up the Alake Thodu Samrakshana Vedike to save the Alake rivulet from getting contaminated by sewage and to inform people of the importance of streams in the city.
Initiatives
As for the City Corporation, the Engineering wing has proposed a single-window facility for grant of permission to townships, flats, houses, and commercial structures in the city. The proposal suggests combined involvement of the engineering, town planning, and health wings of the civic body to prevent flats, townships, and houses from connecting their sewerage to storm-water drains. As of now, the town planning unit alone is authorised to approve works. The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation, meanwhile, has prepared a plan on storm-water drains and is considering ways in which a loan of Rs. 135 crore from the Asian Development Bank could be put to good use. The plan envisages sewage treatment plants at Bajal and Pachhanadi — though its residents are not in favour of this — and development of storm-water drains estimated to cost Rs. 6.5 crore. The drains, of 19 km. length, will pass through 48 areas in the city. It is to be seen how fast the City Corporation will begin acting on the plan.
RAVIPRASAD KAMILA
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