Mangalore Feb 21: There will be no water supply to the City for the next four to five days following a valve burst at the pumphouse in the Thumbe vented dam on Tuesday.

Addressing a press meet here on Tuesday, Mayor Vijaya Arun said the valve of the 750 HP high lift pump which is almost 35-years-old broke down when there was sudden power failure. "The valve which prevents water in the pipe from flowing backwards (when power supply goes off), could not withstand the water pressure and as a result, it burst," she said and added that the impact of the reverse water pressue was so severe that the concrete slabs covering the valve ripped off and broke into pieces. Within minutes, the pump house was flooded with about 20-feet water submerging three other pumps which are instrumental in supplying water. Besides, all the switchboards in the pumping station too were submerged.

Ms Vijaya Arun said that the pumps can be repaired only after completely drying them which takes about 24 hours. Engineers and technical experts from the Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilises (MCF) were called to take stock of the things and also to undertake necessary repair works. The pumps have been sent to Mysore for drying as Mangalore does not have the necessary equipments.

Arrangements

Ms Arun informed that arrangements will be made to supply water through tankers in the City limits. Stating that there are 280 borewells in the City limits, she said 220 are in working condition.

"Water will be lifted from these borewells to supply to the citizens," she said.

She also said that she has already contacted Deputy Commissioner and HQA in this regard. Under special circumstances, Deputy Commissioner has the power to take all the wells and borewells in his custody and distribute water through tankers.

Stating that this was an 'unexpected incident’ which the MCC is facing, she called upon the citizens to co-operate with the MCC in this regard.

She also urged the people to share water with their neighbours.

Confusion

To a query on when the water will be supplied to City, nobody was able to give a clear picture of the situation. On the one hand Mayor said that water supply will be disrupted for four to five days. On the other some of the Standing Committee members said that it will take atleast one week to supply water from Thumbe vented dam.

To another query on using 35-year-old 750 HP high lift pumps, Ms Arun said that ADB projects are under progress. The project was delayed and pipelines could not be laid as the land acquisition officer of National Highway failed to hand over the land to the MCC.

DHNS