Mysuru: If the prediction that the next world war will be fought over water is likely to come true, then all one had to do is be a witness to the war of words at the Old Council Hall of the Mysore City Corporation, here this morning. At a meeting called by Mayor M.J. Ravi Kumar and KR Constituency MLA M.K. Somashekar to tackle the drinking water crisis in south of Mysuru, a stage reached when the war of words touched a stage when the city fathers almost came to blows.
There is severe water shortage in the 22 wards of KR Constituency. Some of the wards that are facing water problem include (JD (S) Corporator Kempanna’s Ward no 13, Congress’ Jagadish, Ward 22, Snake Shyam, Ward 17, BJP’s Jagadish, Ward 14, former Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa, Ward 12, K.V. Mallesh, Ward 18 and Shivanna, Ward 2. The areas where there is shortage include Kuvempunagar, JP Nagar, Sunnadakeri, Jayanagar, K.R. Mohalla, Ramakrishnanagar and other parts of south Mysore to which the water from Kabini river is being pumped.
Even as JD(S) corporator Kempanna entered the Council Hall and saw the Mayor and the MLA having a light-hearted discussion, he flared up and started shouting at them. “When people are venting their ire and taking the corporators to task, why the meeting should be held here instead of the respective wards,” he asked in a raised voice.
As tempers flared, Kempanna went to the extent of threatening that he would pour petrol on the water tank in Kuvempunagar and set it on fire. “I am even ready to go to jail for such an act. What are the authorities doing,” he questioned.
Meanwhile, Jagadish from Congress of Ward 22, and a supporter of MLA Somashekar spoke against Kempanna and as tempers flew they almost came to blows. This commotion lasted for almost half-an-hour.
Kempanna wondered how a tank filled with 15 lakh litres of water could go dry in two hours. Asked about this, he charged that the reply given by the authorities was the water did not last long due to leakage.
However, after some time the corporators were found blaming the authorities for the water crisis.
Pumping of water
According to the last census, Mysuru City has a population of 11 lakh. But it does not include a few areas that have come up outside the Ring Road. If that also is included then it would go up to 15 lakh. The water requirement for a population of this size is 250 MLD but what is being supplied is 209 MLD.
Here is the breakup of the water pumped by various pumping stations and their capacity to pump: The Belagola Pumping Station can pump 52 MLD while it is pumping only 42 MLD, Hongalli Second Stage station can pump 36 MLD while it is pumping 24 MLD, Hongalli Third Stage station can pump 54 MLD, it is just pumping 36 MLD, Melapura station can pump up to 100 MLD but is just pumping 65 MLD and from Kabini while it is 60 MLD, it is pumping only 40 MLD.
A new pumping station has been installed at Bidaragodu in HD Kote taluk, 50 km from Kabini river. A pipeline has been drawn to the city, a distance of 25 km. In between this water is supplied to multi-village drinking water supply project also and to a few other surrounding villages.
The problem began on May 1, when there was no power supply for 11 hours which resulted in disruption of water supply. On May 2 and 3 it was restored but due to fluctuation in power, the problem again began from May 4, said the authorities at the meeting.
According to Vani Vilas Water Works Executive Engineer Kariappa, when it rained a few days back a tree had fallen and the Cescom officials were taking time to restore the power supply.
Finally, as tempers cooled down, it was decided that (1) additional pumps will be installed at all pumping stations (2) sending proposals to the State Government and (3) where there are borewells to replenish them to draw water and supply it to the localities.
Additional Commissioner Raju, Superintending Engineer Suresh Babu, Executive Engineer of Water Supply Anand, Executive Engineer Manjunath, engineer Shivanna and others were present.
This post was published on May 9, 2017 7:00 pm