JOIN USThe drinking water system that is working right now is the one completed about 30 years ago during the tenure of former chief minister Gundu Rao, which was enough to supply water for the population of 8,000 people. The same system is used even today to pump 2.5 lakh litre water with the help of 60 HP pump while the requirement is to pump 7.5 lakh litre water using 200 HP pump.
Over the last three decades, the number of people migrating to Kushalnagar town and Mullusoge area has shot up drastically. Hence, the population of the town and Mullusoge area has gone up to 26,000 suddenly thereby adding to the water requirement.
State Urban Water Supply Board, with the aim of providing water to the town has made a barrage like structure using sand bags, near Baichanahalli pumphouse to store water. The water thus accumulated is pumped to the town.
The people in the town are provided drinking water once in four days because of depleting level of river water. Though efforts are being made from several years to have a permanent drinking water project for the city, lack of political will has not allowed the plan to materialise.
In the beginning there were about 700-800 tap connections in the town, but now the connection has increased to 3,000. The local residents demanding permanent drinking water project for the town have said that the local governing bodies should think on lines of providing drinking water 24x7. Town Panchayat President S P Charitha speaking to Deccan Herald said that a proposal for the same has been submitted to the government.
The Panchayat has paid Rs 6 lakh to the government as deposit to lay drainage in the town. The President said that the drinking water crisis in the town can be solved if the II phase of drinking water project is implemented.
As the drinking water crisis is getting intense day by day, people are seen having their own wells and borewells to solve the drinking water problems themselves.
It is now said that the underground water level will go down even more because borewells have been dug by people blindly, without considering the fact that whether they need it nor not.