The Hindu Business Line : `No funds crunch to tackle water scarcity in Dakshina Kannada'

Addressing presspersons after attending the district progress review meeting here on Tuesday, Mr Singh said that the State Government will sanction Rs 20 crore for constructing a second vented dam at Tumbe across Netravati River in the district as soon as it receives estimation and proposal from the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC).

The Government is also ready to repair the existing dam as the MCC is quite apprehensive over repairing the dam since it incurs huge cost.

Mangalore city gets water from Tumbe vented dam in the district.

Mr Singh said that the district administration has submitted a proposal to release Rs 7.72 crore to take up water supply works in five taluks of the district. Of this, the Government has approved Rs 2.13 crore.

He said that the bureaucracy should tackle water scarcity with zeal and commitment.

`Provide water to MRPL'

The needs of the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) should also be kept in mind while tackling water scarcity in the district.

"The refinery should be given full water," he said. MRPL, a subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is one of the major industries in Mangalore.

Apart from this, ONGC is planning to invest around Rs 25,000 crore in the district on various petrochemical projects. In such a situation, ONGC and its subsidiaries should be provided with water to meet their requirements, he said.

Last Thursday, the refinery shut down some of the units in the phase-I due to non-availability of raw water. The district administration had asked the refinery not to lift water from Netravati following a request by MCC.

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