Mangaluru : Mayor Mahabala Marla has said the work on second vented dam at Thumbe is likely to be completed by the end of December, 2015.

After offering ganga pooja at Thumbe vented dam on Tuesday, he said that the estimated cost of the new vented dam has escalated to Rs 77.50 crore.

The MCC has already paid Rs 23 crore for the vented dam. An official said the height of the new dam is seven metre and length is 343.50 metre. There are a total of 30 vents and 29 piers.

The size of each vent is 10 metre with electrical operated vertical steel gates. The total number of foundation blocks is 15. The storage capacity for the proposed dam for seven meters is 14.73 MCM (14730 ML).

The present existing vented dam capacity for four meter height is 5.21 MCM (5210ML). The demand of water for 2016 is 132.38 MLD and the demand for 2026 is 161.05 MLD, he explained.

The official said the new vented dam is likely to store water for four meter height. For the seven meter height dam, 386.743 acre land will be submerged in five villages. A total of 313.554 acre land is in private hand and 73.189 acre is in government land.

The land will be submerged in Panemangalore, Munnoor, Narikombu, B Muda and Kallige villages. The technical survey for the acquisition of the land has already been conducted. The revenue survey is being done by the MCC. After the revenue survey, the notification will be issued, he added.

When the foundation for the new vented dam is laid in 2009, the estimated cost of the project was Rs 40 crore. A total of Rs 46.36 crore has been utilised so far.

The present vented dam across Nethravathi was constructed in 1993. The dam has 134 piers and 135 vents. The dam is 323.1 metre length and four metre height. During the peek summer if 160 MLD water is supplied to the City, the water stored in the dam (with zero inflow) can supply water for 10 to 15 days.

Later, District-in-Charge Minister Ramanath Rai said that two multi-village projects have been initiated at an estimated cost of Rs 76 crore. The government is planning to construct check dams under Pashchima Vahini scheme to increase the ground water level.