Belagavi city is facing acute drinking water scarcity. Residents of the city that receives an annual average of 1,400 mm rainfall are facing the second driest spell in a decade.
Rainfall has been delayed by over two weeks. Most of the wells and borewells have dried up and tap water supply is unreliable. Water supply has also been significantly reduced in the 10 wards where the round-the-clock water supply scheme is operational.
The district administration and city corporation officials are tasked with supplying drinking water. They are resorting to water supply from tankers.
Belagavi city gets water from Hidkal and Rakkasakoppa reservoirs. The Rakkasakoppa Reservoir, the main source of water for the city, has nearly dried up. “Only dead stock is left in the dam and we will be constrained to pump it out,” said a city corporation officer.
The Raja Lakhamagouda Reservoir in Hidkal, with 51 tmcft gross capacity, is nearly dry. On Sunday, there was only 2.13 tmcft of water, just above the dead storage levels of 2.02 tmcft. Inflow was zero while outflow was 105 cusecs.
The Naviluteertha Dam on the Malaprabha, with a gross capacity of 37 tmcft, has just 3.85 tmcft of water.
Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development & Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has urged the residents to utilise water wisely and avoid wastage.
“A crisis has arisen due to the low water level in the Rakkasakoppa dam and delayed rainfall. Further delay in rainfall will worsen the situation. Residents should stop using pumpsets to draw water from taps. They should drink water after boiling it,” the release said.
St. Paul’s School in the Military Camp area has requested parents who have access to open wells or borewells to spare some water for the school’s tankers. It has said that if the situation worsens, it will be constrained to start online classes. However, some parents like Sajid Sheikh supplied them with some tankers and the school has postponed plans for online classes, school sources said.
A similar situation existed in 2016. Belagavi City Corporation officials identified old open wells that contained potable water. They cleaned a series of wells in Belagavi North and South areas and began supplying water to some residential areas.
Some NGOs are working towards addressing the issue. Pyaas Foundation, led by Madhav Prabhu, a city-based doctor, and his friends are supplying tanker water to some areas. The foundation is also taking up work to clean and dredge tanks and wells and create new waterbodies in rural areas.
Amulya Boondh Foundation, led by Aarati Bhandare, is creating awareness about water conservation among schoolchildren and women’s organisations.
