Mangaluru: As Dakshina Kannada did not receive proper pre-monsoon showers, the whole district is facing acute shortage of drinking water. The Mangaluru city is not fully prepared to face the monsoon because of the incomplete drainage work, road repairs, silt removal from the drainage among others.
It may be recalled that when the southwest monsoon reached Karnataka earlier than usual on May 29, last year, Mangaluru and its surrounding areas received heavy rains. Due to this, several low-lying areas in the city including Kottara Chowki, Ballalbagh had witnessed waterlogging on the first day of the season. If the situation repeats this time too, there would be more problems in city than last year.
The sewage water pipeline work between Kudroli and Mullakadu is in progress and the workers are installing pipeline along Urwa-Ashokanagar now. However, it seems like work will not be completed before the onset of monsoon. If it rains heavily now, the residents of these areas will definitely face several problems.
Meanwhile, the work on removing silt from the drainage has not been completed so far. The silt extracted is dumped on the roadsides and it is feared that this may lead to artificial floods in the city. There was no stormwater drain at Karangalpady so far and measures have been taken now to form one. However, the work has not been completed so far. The partial work at Karangalpady is posing a danger now.
The flyover work at Pumpwell Circle is still in progress. Rains can cause havoc in the areas surrounding Pumpwell Circle due to waterlogging.
Pointing at the pending silt removal works on drainage and culverts, Mangaluru South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath has asked the Mangauru City Corporation (MCC) to complete them. Recalling the inconvenience faced during the heavy rainfall last year, Vedavyas Kamath advised the officials to be very alert to face the worst.
MCC Commissioner (In-charge) B H Narayanappa informed that he had already instructed the officials concerned to speed up the work and take appropriate measures to complete the work before the onset of monsoon.
