Councillors of Mangaluru City Corporation on Tuesday charged the promoters of Jalasiri 24 x 7 water supply project with lacking clarity over source of water for ensuring continuous supply to people.
The councillors were participating in a meeting on the project at the council hall.
The project estimated to be taken up at ₹ 792.42 crore, which funds will come from Asian Development Bank, is being implemented by Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation.
A representative of the project consultant firm said that 160 million litres per day (MLD) was being drawn now from the Thumbe Vented Dam — the main source of water supply for the city.
“Out of this 160 MLD, 18 MLD was being used by villages en route and 142 MLD was available for the city. This water is sufficient to provide continuous supply to all citizens from 2023,” the representative said.
Disagreeing with the views of the project consultant, councillor Vinayraj said that when several areas in the city were receiving water once in two days now, how could it be possible to ensure continuous supply with available quantum of water.
Expressing the need for additional water source, councillor Sudhir Shetty Kannur said that a new water line should be laid from Thumbe Vented Dam to the city.
“We know how poorly the 24 x 7 water supply project was executed under the first phase of works taken up using ADB funds. The pipes though have been laid, no water is flowing in them. We do not want the same to happen in the second phase of ADB works,” he said.
Councillors Lancelot Pinto, Shashidhar Hegde and Naveen D’Souza expressed the need for addressing problems in drawing water from the Thumbe.
Mayor Diwakar and Corporation Commissioner Akshy Sridhar said that the project involved strengthening the existing water distribution network. And, the issue of source of water was outside the scope of the project.
Mr. Sridhar said that a new pumphouse is proposed near the upcoming road-cum-vented dam in Adyar to bring water to the city. The new vented dam will meet the water requirements of Ullal and adjoining areas. A solution was being worked out to provide water to villages en route through an independent pipeline, Mr. Sridhar said.
Mr. Diwakar said that another meeting will be held with councillors shortly to clarify doubts over the source of water to fulfil the city’s requirements.