Namage Neeru Illa So Nimage Oota Illa!

Mangaluru: A restaurant owner who had closed down his small restaurant in the heart of the city speaking to Mangalorean.com said, ” Namage neeru illada Karana nimage oota thayarislike agudilla (Since we have no supply of water we are unable to cook food for you). It has been very hard for the last few days dealing with the water scarcity. I can’t afford to pay thousands of rupees towards water supplied by tankers. They are ripping us off big time-who knows whether they are supplying the right quantity of water. After much consideration and in order to avoid further loses I decided to close down my restaurant until water situation comes back to normalcy”.

Food served on Paper Plates at Hotels

This is just one case of businesses closing down among many others due to water shortage, and many other businesses are on the verge of closing down since there is no signs any remedy for this water crisis, and also that rain God is not helping out in this crisis. Some restaurants have started serving food on paper plates and coffee/tea/drinks in paper cups, in order to save water in washing the regular utensils. As per MCC Mayor Harinath, the water at Thumbay Dam will last only for today, after that no water will be pumped out from there. Although the district administration and MCC are trying their best to overcome this water crisis, but still many residents and industries are facing lots of problems.

Yet another restaurant owner of Taj Cafe in Bunder area, speaking to us said, ” If the water scarcity still continues, I may close my restaurant by Friday. Paying too much money to buy water doesn’t help me in making any profit. Although me and my neighbours have been sharing the cost of water supplied by private water tankers, but we feel that they are cheating with the quantity of water they are providing us. We have no way of checking how much quantity of water we received. So to avoid all these hassles I may close down my restaurant soon, till good days are back again”.

Awareness Banner hung at Fr Muller Hospital

Among the many industries that have closed or stopped production are MCF at Panambur and United Breweries in Baikampady. Many educational institutions have been advised to send their hostelites home for few weeks, and already Kasturba Medical College, Fr Muller’s Institution and AJ Institute of Medical Sciences have sent many of their boarders home. The DC AB Ibrahim has also ordered that all upcoming multi-storied buildings and apartments stop constructions in order to stop using of water during this water crisis. Although it rained for just a while last evening, that didn’t help much in solving the water crisis. DC has also requested the citizens of Mangaluru who have open wells or bore-wells to share water with MCC, so that other citizens would also be benefited.

In the meantime, MCC has opened 24-hour helplines to assist citizens in their water problems- you can call MCC main office at 0824-2220306/2220319; or toll free number-155313; Bendore well area call : 0824-2220303; Surathkal -0824-2220360;