MCC to crack down on illegal water users

Mangalore, March 27: While severe shortage of water has hit many parts of the state with the onset of summer, water in large quantities is being wasted through leakages in Mangalore city. Also, pilferage and misuse of water have become a major concern for the MCC, which hopes to mitigate the problem by curbing illegal connections and regularising them.

According to MCC records, the actual number of consumers in the city crosses 1.2 lakh. However, the total number of water supply connections is only about 72,000. As per MCC norms, water requirement per person is 135 lires per day (MLD). Going by this, water requirement for 72,000 authorised connections should be about 50 MLD. However, as of now, 160 MLD water is being pumped to the city, which is a clear indication that water is being misused, pilfered or lost through leakages.

The requirement of water for the entire city in 2026 is pegged at 80-90 million litres per day (MLD) as per the survey conducted by the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP).

To check irregularities, the MCC has come forward with a new scheme of regularising all illegal water supply connections. Those who have obtained water supply connections illegally without MCC's consent can voluntarily disclose it to get a valid connection under the new scheme.

MCC commissioner K N Vijayaprakash told the TOI that a large number of commercial establishments in the City have unauthorised water supply connections. Similarly, many domestic connections in the city too are illegal. Besides this, some use the drinking water to irrigate their agriculture fields, he said, adding that all such irregularities can be rectified once the 24x7 water supply scheme was introduced.

Crisil, the consultants for 24x7 water supply scheme of the MCC, has already been asked to prepare a detailed project report. Currently, the MCC does not have a comprehensive map of the pipelines in the city. A comprehensive mapping will be done to ascertain the total water supply connections and pipeline networks in the city. Later, sensors will be fixed to the water pipelines on all junctions to identify the leakage. Mobile sensor equipment will also be purchased to identify leakage at remote places where there are no sensors, Vijayaprakash explained.

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Voting underway in Karnataka bypolls: Family legacies and political heavyweights battle across 3 segments

News Network

November 13,2024

Bengaluru: An estimated overall 10.14 per cent voter turnout was recorded during the first two hours, since the voting began for bypolls to three Assembly segments in Karnataka on Wednesday, election officials said.

The voting began at 7 am and will go on till 6 pm.

More than seven lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes in about 770 polling stations in Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna, where a total of 45 candidates are in the fray.

While Channapatna recorded 10.34 per cent voter turnout till 9 am, it was 10.08 per cent in Shiggaon, and 9.99 per cent in Sandur, election officials said.

Voters, including women and elderly were seen queuing up in front of polling booths in these segments.

By-polls for Sandur, Shiggaon, and Channapatna are necessitated, as the seats fell vacant following the election of their respective representatives -- E Tukaram of Congress, former CM Basavaraj Bommai of BJP, and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) -- to Lok Sabha in May elections.

As many as 31 candidates are in the fray from Channapatna, while Sandur and Shiggaon have six and eight contenders, respectively.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in the three segments for the smooth conduct of the polls.

The by-polls will witness a straight fight between the ruling Congress and BJP in Sandur and Shiggaon segments, while in Channapatna, JD(S) which is part of the NDA alliance is in contest against the grand old party.

Among the three segments, Channapatna is considered to be a "high profile", where the contest is between C P Yogeeshwara, a five time MLA from the segment and former Minister, who joined the Congress quitting BJP ahead of nomination, and actor-turned -politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who is Kumaraswamy’s son and former PM H D Deve Gowda's grandson.

BJP's Bharath Bommai, son of Basavaraj Bommai, is fighting Congress Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, who had faced defeat against the former Chief Minister in the 2023 Assembly polls, in Shiggaon.

Bharath Bommai and his father cast their vote at a polling booth in Shiggaon segment.

In Sandur, Bellary MP Tukaram's wife E Annapurna of Congress is contesting from the seat vacated by her husband, against, BJP ST Morcha president Bangaru Hanumanthu, who is considered close to party leader and former mining barron G Janardhan Reddy.

Annapurna, Tukaram and other family members cast their votes at a booth in the segment.

With Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Bharath Bommai contesting, the third generation of Gowda and Bommai families are in the fray in this by-poll. Both their fathers and grandfathers have served as Karnataka's Chief Ministers in the past.

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