Dependency of borewell water in K.R. Constituency will be eliminated, says MLA S.A. Ramdas

Mysore/Mysuru: The ambitious plan of upgrading the 60 MLD (Million Litres per Day) of water to 120 MLD to supply uninterrupted water to Krishnaraja Constituency and South Western parts of Mysuru city by drawing more water from Kabini River is under progress at Bidaragodu Jackwell point near Nanjangud and the project will be completed by January 2023.  

The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) launched the upgradation plan to make optimal use of the Bidaragodu Jackwell point to supply 120 MLD of water from the present 60 MLD. Once implemented, this will be one of the most ambitious drinking water projects to be taken up by MUDA in recent times.

Yesterday, Krishnaraja MLA S.A. Ramdas, Deputy Mayor Dr. G. Roopa, Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy visited the project along with MCC and MUDA officials and inspected the project progress.

Raw Kabini water up to 60 MLD — Kabini Phase-1 — is now being supplied after treatment and the project has the capacity to supply 120 MLD to 180 MLD. In the Phase II, additional 60 MLD is being taken up taking the total to 120 MLD, the MLA said in a press release.

The project is being implemented by the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) and this will meet the growing drinking water demands. We inspected the ongoing work on the tube settler (capable of purifying 22 MLD) and rapid sand filter at the water treatment plant. MUDA has decided to install a 1,200 HP capacity motor to increase the pumping capacity enabling the plant to pump 120 MLD into Mysuru city without any hassles. Once completed, water will be supplied to all parts of Krishnaraja Constituency,” the MLA’s statement read.

Over 70 percent of the work on the tube module has been completed and over 40 percent work of the rapid sand filter has been completed. Ayyappa Constructions is executing the project and the contractor has assured that the works will be completed by the end of December.

“All the works will be completed by January 2023. In fact, the work should have been completed by September 2021 but was delayed due to various reasons. Once the project is completed, 18 to 20 MLD of additional water will be supplied to areas coming under Krishnaraja Constituency and the additional water (40 MLD) will be supplied to MUDA to be diverted to meet the drinking water requirements of areas that are outside the MCC limits but come under MUDA,” MLA Ramdas added.

Decommissioning borewells

Now that the Kabini Phase II project is becoming a reality, there is a plan to make Krishnaraja a borewell-free Constituency. There were over 584 borewells in the Constituency and 400 of them have been decommissioned and connected to parks. The remaining borewells will also be decommissioned in the due course.  “As of now, many parts of K.R. are getting 20 MLD of borewell water. Once the Kabini Phase II is fully implemented, the dependency on borewells will cease to exist and the borewells will be decommissioned,” Ramdas added.

MCC Commissioner Lakshmikantha Reddy said that the civic body has plans to eliminate drinking water supply through borewells in all Wards by January 2023. “We have already decommissioned about 400 borewells and 300 more will be disconnected in the coming months. We will retain around 300 borewells as a back-up in case of any emergency and to meet the water requirements of gardens and parks,” he said.