DKMUL buys water from farmers

 Water shortage in the district has affected even the Dakshina Kannada Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd (DKMUL).

To overcome the problem,  DKMUL is purchasing water from farmers who supply milk to the union. DKMUL managing director Dr B V Satyaranayana said, “Two tankers have been used to get water from rural areas. Accordingly, 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh litres of water is purchased daily.”

The DKMUL procures 3.52 lakh litres milk from the farmers of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. It requires at least two lakh litres of water for processing. “In spite of taking all precautionary measures to save water, DKMUL requires 1.5 lakh litres of water daily. The water supplied by the city corporation once in three days is sufficient for a day. We require at least three to four lakh litres of water for the remaining two days. The purchase of water is inevitable,” he said.

Satyanarayana added, “There are no major sources of water in the city from where we can get a huge quantity of water for the requirement of the DKMUL. Hence, we decided to collect water from farmers’ wells and get it to the milk processing unit. Some farmers sell us water on concession and a few others demand market price for the water supplied.”