Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Announces Water Rationing, Meanwhile, Gallons of Water are Lost due to Leaky Pipes on Lighthouse Hill Road, near Karnad Sadashiv Rao Library aka Central Library/St Aloysius College, Mangaluru
Mangaluru: With the city facing a shortage in water storage at the Thumbe vented dam, which supplies drinking water to the city, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) will resort to water rationing from 5 May 2023 Instead of daily supply, water will be supplied on alternate days from Friday as per MCC sources. Water will be supplied to Mangaluru City North on May 5. There will be no water supply to Mangaluru City North on May 6. Instead, water will be supplied to Mangaluru City South on May 6. Likewise, the supply on alternate days will continue.
It is learnt that the inflow in the Netravati has stopped, therefore, MCC is requesting people to cooperate with the corporation and not waste water for washing vehicles and other purposes. As per an MCC executive engineer, the water level at the dam stood at 4.27 m on Wednesday against the full storage level of 6 m. If water is supplied daily to the entire city (Mangaluru City North and Mangaluru City South) the existing storage will last only for 16 days, the engineer said. Hence the decision to supply water on alternate days has been taken to supply water till May-end. Also during a meeting chaired by DK Deputy Commissioner Ravikumar on 3 May, along with concerned authorities of District Administration and MCC, he laid down certain restrictions on using water
However, the DC and other concerned authorities who take the Lighthouse Hill Road daily to their offices, have turned a blind eye to the gallons of water that have been leaking due to faulty pipes underground for days, near Karnad Sadashiv Rao library/St Aloysius College, LHH road, Mangaluru. The water has been flowing all along the road and the officials have neglected this issue while rationing of water will start soon.
This has happened in the past, and it’s happening, where a loose connection of the water pipe is resulting in losing gallons and gallons of water 24X7. This has been a long-time problem, where after complaints the concerned people come and do an incomplete/shabby job- and a few days later it’s once again, the same problem of water leakage. And presently it is much worse, with water oozing out continuously, and overflowing surrounding areas. And now since there is no proper Pappa and Mamma at the MCC, to take care of civic issues since most of them are at the helm of election duties, thus no one has taken any action to fix this problem.
MCC has planned on water rationing for its citizens, but the officials have turned a blind eye towards leaky and faulty water connection pipes all around the City, and not just the one on LHH road. Earlier there were leaky pipes near Urwa, Lady Hill, Bendore-well, Jeppu, and many other places- but the problems don’t stop, as the leaks appear again and again. A few months ago MCC had announced that it has yet to collect payment of water bills in crores – and on the other hand, MCC is losing gallons of water due to a faulty connection of water pipes or due to rusty water pipes. While most of the City is dying of thirst due to low water supply during summer times, and here we have water being lost due to human error and negligence.
Water leaks are becoming a bigger cause for concern with corporations/municipalities desperately trying to conserve more water while trying to decrease the amount of clean water that is being wasted through burst water pipes. Old water infrastructure has been a problem for MCC with old metal pipes rusting, loose bolts giving way, and clean water gushing onto the street or into drains, costing a fortune in revenue. So how much water does the city lose because of this? A LOT! The City’s creaking water system is leaking thousands of litres every day in regions currently facing usage restrictions as reservoirs run perilously low during hot weather. Many a time, MCC warns residents to limit their water usage during summer, but don’t bother to fix leaky or faulty pipes that leak out gallons of water. Bah, humbug!
Locals say this is indicative of the volume of water being wasted and leaking out of the city’s ageing water infrastructure. If the leaks were fixed there would be no need to conserve water. If you examine some of the MCC water connection pipes you will notice some shocking results- most pipes in the distribution system are in a bad condition. The pipes are either leaking or the dead ends are capped with wooden/metal corks increasing the likelihood of water-borne diseases. Sadly, MCC doesn’t care about citizens’ health and safety.
Some of the pipes looked new; most were older and had sprung tiny leaks out of rust holes. Not only has the municipal water system been slow to branch out, but it also leaks like cheesecloth. In the established neighbourhoods that enjoy the relative reliability of an MCC hookup, 44 per cent of the city’s water supply either seeps out through ageing pipes or gets siphoned away by thieves. Summers bring shortages, even for those served by the city’s plumbing. Everywhere, the steep ascent of demand has caused a run on groundwater. Well, owners drill deeper and deeper, chasing the water table downward as they all keep draining it further.
And on the other hand, we have these faulty/leaky water pipes that lose gallons of water-what waste. Hope this report will awaken the concerned MCC officials to spring into action and fix the leaky joint so that not a single drop of precious water is lost. Thanking you in anticipation-yours truly on behalf of the citizens of Mangaluru.
