Water level in Thumbe dam dips further

Mangaluru: The water level in Thumbe dam, which has a maximum storage capacity of six metres, has reduced further to 4.05 metres on Saturday.
The water level was 4.9 metres on April 28 when urban development minister U T Khader visited the dam along with officials. Meanwhile, on April 30, the water level was 4.76 metres. On Saturday, the water level further reduced to 4.05 metres. According to officials, the water in the dam is sufficient for a maximum of 15 days.
At present, there is no inflow to Nethravati river as the catchment areas have not received sufficient rainfall. Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has already introduced water rationing as a precautionary measure. As per the revised schedule introduced on May 1, water is being pumped to the city for four days continuously with a break of two days. Accordingly, water will be supplied to the city till 6am on May 13 and thereafter pumping will be stopped for two days. Similarly, the cycle will be continued till May 21 and later a decision will be taken based on the situation, an official source of the MCC told TOI.
The official added that the water in the dam also depletes due to evaporation. Dakshina Kannada district administration has already imposed total ban on MRPL from drawing river water. The state’s only refiner has on Thursday shut down operations of its phase I unit following a directive from the district administration to stop drawing water from their weir at Sarapady, upstream from the AMR dam at Shamboor. With this, MRPL presently is functioning at a little under 50% of its slated capacity of 13 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa).
The district administration will hold a meeting and take decision with regard to water rationing soon based on the situation, the official said.
BOX
Depleting reserve
Maximum storage - 6 metres
April 28 - 4.9 metres
April 30 - 4.76 metres
May 11- 4.05 metres
Water in the dam is sufficient for a maximum of 15 days, say officials