Mangaluru : Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur  offered the ‘Ganga Pooje’ at Thumbe vented dam,  on Monday, February 5.

Speaking after performing the ‘Pooje’ he  said the Mangaluru City Corporation will continue the disconnection drive against unauthorised water lines tapping the main supply line from Thumbe vented dam across Netravathi to the city.

Mr. Kannur said the illegal tapping was causing shortfall in water supply to the city thereby affecting supply in some areas in the last few days.

Four teams were formed to check the two supply lines and remove illegal connections. “Leaving connections of gram panchayats, we are disconnecting all other illegal connections.” So far, nearly 70 connections in Thumbe, Adyar, and Pudu gram panchayats, which include connections to farms, garages, commercial buildings, and to Kalyan mandap in Adyar Arkula were disconnected.

“The rains in December have led to a good inflow of water to Thumbe dam with sufficient storage. We need to address this small issue of illegal tapping to sustain water supply to all areas of the city till May,” he said.

MCC Commissioner C.L. Anand said MCC has installed a bulk meter at the Ramalkatte water treatment plant near the Thumbe Vented dam from where water is pumped to the city. Metres will be installed at Bendoor and other water receiving stations. “In a week, MCC will have clear data about the flow of water. Places experiencing a shortfall in supply will be identified and necessary corrective action will be taken,” he said. Because of illegal tapping of water, the city was losing about 30% of the 160 MLD (million liters per day) of water supplied to the city from Thumbe, he said.

Mr. Kannur said the MCC will commission in 15 days the new water treatment plant near Adyar Vented Dam through which Adyar and other gram panchayats will get 10 MLD water.

The Rs 577-crore Jalasiri project related to supplying 24X7 water to the areas in Mangaluru was on and about 60% work is pending. The foundation stone will be laid in a fortnight for the Rs 125-crore water treatment plant near Harekala dam from which 125 MLD of water required for 24×7 supply will be sourced. The MCC has asked the State government for a sum of ₹68 crore for laying a new water pipeline between Adyar and Panambur, the Mayor said.