Water harvesting helps small units tide over scarcity in Mangaluru

‘Merger Soda’, one of the local soda brands, is a water-intensive industry at Baikampady industrial area in Mangaluru. However, the acute water scarcity in Mangaluru city has not affected it.

The decision to go in for water harvesting at the factory premises a decade ago has helped, said Issac Vas, Managing Director of Merger Beverages Pvt Ltd (manufacturer of Merger Soda).

Henry CF Britto, President of Kanara Small Industries Association (KSIA) at Baikampady, told Business Line that most of the 800 units in the industrial area are tackling water scarcity effectively. Around 50 of them require water in large quantities while the others are not water-intensive, he said.

When the city faced acute water scarcity four years ago, the association had campaigned for water harvesting. “That is paying off now,” he said.

Explaining his experience of water harvesting at Merger Beverages, Vas said that more than 10 lakh litres of rainwater is harvested from the roofs of his unit during monsoon season to recharge the borewell on the factory premises. The borewell yields enough water during the summer, he said.

For the units that are facing water scarcity, the association is in talks with the Mangaluru Special Economic Zone to supply recycled water, he said.

“I don’t know any cases of shutdown because of water scarcity. Most of the units help each other with the available water resources in their area,” Britto said.

Water scarcity is acute in many colleges in the city with some of them announcing partial shutdown and holidays.

Two medical colleges in the city – Kasturba Medical College and Father Mullers Medical College – have announced partial shutdown of hostels by announcing holidays for students of some courses.

MS Moodithaya, Registrar of Nitte University (which offers medical and paramedical courses), said the university is contemplating the possibility of closing down the hostels selectively, if the situation does not improve by the end of this week. However, steps will be taken to ensure that the examinations and the hospital services are not disrupted, he said.

For the common man in the city, the situation has gone from bad to worse. MCC, which had started supplying water on alternate days, has now reduced it to twice in a week.

Water level in the Thumbe reservoir across the Nethravathi river has come down drastically. Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has identified borewells and open wells in the city to source water to meet the requirements of its citizens and supplying water in tankers.

Vas said that MCC should insist on rainwater harvesting in apartment blocks as it will help increase the watertable in the region.

Britto suggested that the government set up desalination plants to meet the requirements of industries, and set up vented-dams in the rivers to meet the drinking water requirements.

COMMENT NOW