JOIN USWater woes for rural areas despite rains
With the onset of summer season, several areas of the district are expected to face drinking water problems in the coming days. Though Mysore city is expected to receive enough water from reservoirs, thanks to favourable monsoons and filled reservoirs, Mysore taluk is the worst affected in the district.
Jayapura Hobli of Mysore taluk and the surrounding villages of the hobli are already facing a water crisis, with the Zilla Panchayat employing tankers to supply water to nine villages in the hobli.
Assistant Executive Engineer of Zilla Panchayat of Mysore sub-division, Somashekar said that they had been supplying water in tankers to 16 villages of the taluk, which was later reduced to nine. “We have employed funds from State and Central governments to install pipelines and dig borewells at seven of the 16 villages in the taluk,” he said. Two other taluks of the Mysore sub-division, T Narsipur and Nanjangud are not facing any water woes, as of now, he said.
R K Raju, Executive Engineer of Hunsur division, said that drinking water problems would be less this year, as compared to the past two years, when rainfall had failed. “Even though we have received good rainfall, it has not been enough to recharge the depleting ground water levels, or to fill lakes or tanks. Some parts of the division may face water problems in peak summer months,” he said.
Owing to ground water depletion, water shortage was expected in DB Saragur, Alanahalli and Kyathanahalli grama panchayat limits, he said. With enough sanctions under Calamity Relief Fund and Contingency Action Plans, problems of these villages will be resolved, he said.
The district administration is also making a list of susceptible villages, which might face water shortage, he said.
Power problem
Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (Cesc) announcing unscheduled load shedding in rural areas, has also raised fears of Zilla Panchayat officials, regarding water crisis. “For several villages, hand pumps are source of water. If power fails, these villages are bound to face problems,” Raju added.
It can be recalled that four of the seven taluks of the district, Mysore, T Narsipur, Nanjangud and K R Nagar have been declared as drought hit by the State government.