Mangaluru : The Disha Hydel Power Project Dam at Koliyada Katta in Kadaba ‘hobli’ of Puttur taluk was released on Monday night with the expectation that it might reach Thumbe Dam from where drinking water is supplied to the city.

Water was released after a team of officials of the Mangaluru City Corporation led by commissioner H.N. Gopalakrishna served a release order issued by Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim to the project authorities on Monday evening.

“Water will have to traverse 71 km in the river course via the Kumaradhara and the Nethravati if it has to reach the Thumbe Dam,” Mr. Gopalakrishna told.

It will have to reach 30 km down to a vented dam across Kumaradhara at Uppinangady first. This dam supplies water to Puttur town. Later, it would have to flow another 30 km down to reach AMR Hydel Power Project’s dam at Shambhoor near Bantwal. If it was to reach Thumbe dam, water would have to traverse in the river course further 11 km down, the commissioner said.

The dam near Kadaba had about 2 million cubic metres (MCM) of water. One MCM of water would suffice for supplying for four days to the city.

The commissioner said that the scouring sluice (bottom gate) of the dam at Shambhoor was opened at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday and whatever water stored in the dam was released to Thumbe.

Meanwhile, water level at Thumbe depleted to 5.5 ft on Tuesday against a maximum of 13 ft. On the same day (May 3) in 2015, the Thumbe dam was full with 13 ft of water.

According to engineers at the corporation water from the dam could be pumped using two pumps only till the level depletes to 4 ft.

Later, one pump could be operated till the level reached down to 3.5 ft. Pumping would have to be stopped later due to accumulation of silt and other technical factors.

Reports reaching here said that some areas in Sullia taluk such as Doddathota, Guthigar, Kallaje, Mandekolu, Panja, Nedle near Dharmasthala received rain on Tuesday evening. The spell ranged from half an hour to one hour.

Dakshina Kannada district received less rainfall during the last four months of this year when compared to the corresponding period of 2015.

According to official data, the district recorded only an average 11.90 mm rain this April when compared to an average 128 mm rainfall recorded during the same month in 2015. The district did not record any rain in March when compared to an average 21.6 mm rainfall recorded in the same month in 2015.

In March and April last year, the district had recorded more than the normal average rainfall.