With the water-level in the Baje dam against the Swarna reaching the dead storage level, the Udupi City Municipal Council is now pumping water from the big holes in the riverbed which contain water, and supplying it to the city.
This is what the city municipality does, when the water level reaches the bottom at the Baje dam during summer. The water from these big holes on the riverbed is pumped from the area near Puttige to the Baje dam. This water is then treated at the Water Treatment Plant at Baje Dam and supplied to the city.
Meanwhile, water rationing in the city has been revised. Hitherto, water was being provided once in three days.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Vidya Kumari told The Hindu that it was no longer possible to supply water once in three days. Hence, the city had been divided into six zones. “Each zone will get water once in six days from today (May 6) onwards,” she said.
As per the present estimates, the water in these large holes is enough to meet the drinking water needs of the city for the next 20 days. The water will be pumped for about eight to 10 hours a day at the dam. “This water will be supplied to each one of these six zones once in six days, in turns. This has been done so that water pressure is maintained and it is available equitably to all areas,” she said.
This year, there have been no good spells of rainfall in March or April. With the result, there has been no inflow into the Swarna during these two months. “Any rainfall in the Karkala side would ease the situation. Though the Meteorological Department had forecast rainfall last week, it did not rain,” she said.
The work on removal of silt from the river is being taken up along with the pumping of water from the large holes. The removal of silt is expected to increase the water storage capacity of the reservoir and will be of help during the next summer.