The city went without water for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday. People were seen approaching neighbours having open wells to fetch a pot of water for drinking and cooking purpose.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Shobhith, a resident of Morgan’s Gate said, he was not getting water since Saturday and hence his family was forced to approach his neighbour for water. “Though we have a sump, the water stored cannot be used for drinking purpose. Hence, I had to approach my neighbour who has an open well for drinking water,” he added. Raghav, a resident of P L Colony in Morgan’s Gate said “We did not get water for the last four days. As there was a public well in the vicinity, I drew water from the well, so that we could prepare breakfast in the morning. Later, in the evening, residents brought submersible pump on rent for Rs 700 per day and used it for pumping water from the public well to fill the sump in around 15 houses.”
A long queue was seen in front of the office of private water suppliers. With the repair of one 18 MGD pipeline, water was supplied to Balmatta, Kankanady, Falnir area on Tuesday morning. However, the residents of Morgan’s Gate, Bendoorwell, Ujjodi, Bajal, Kulai, Kulshekar, Shaktinagar and other areas continued to suffer. The hotel and flat owners took the service of water suppliers and managed the situation. However, those who could not afford to get the service of private water suppliers had a hard time.
In a few houses, inmates had kept buckets to collect rain water, so that it could be used for washing vessels and clothes.
“I have taken leave and been collecting water from my neighbours, to cook food for my children when they come home from school,” said Lakshmi, a resident of Ujjodi.
Vijayalakshmi from Shaktinagar said, “I have been managing with the stored water for the last four days. Even to collect rain water, there is no enough rain. Usually Mangaluru is soaked in rain by this time of the year. However, this year there is scanty rainfall. Even the service station staff returned my two-wheeler which was given for servicing, without cleaning owing to the scarcity of water, before delivering it to me,” she added.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Mayor Jacintha Vijay Alfred said though the leakage in 18 MGD pipeline was plugged and pumping of water commenced, owing to inter-leakage, the pumping had to be stopped on Tuesday morning. The labourers are fixing the problem and the water supply will be rectified by Wednesday.”
Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim who visited the spot where two 18 MGD pipelines have been damaged, said the water supply will be restored from Wednesday. “By Tuesday midnight, the pipelines will be repaired. I have asked officials to take strict measures to ensure that the miscreants do not dump debris on the pipelines. At the same time, a survey will be conducted to assess the leakage of pipelines, so that such crisis do not recur in the city. With the help of RTO, tankers from Moodbidri and Puttur were pressed to service and water was supplied to some localities in the MCC jurisdiction.”