Mangaluru, May 27: AB Ibrahim, the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Dakshina Kannada, has withdrawn all ban orders on drawing water from the river, issued by him earlier.
With this, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. and Mangalore Special Economic Zone Ltd. can lift water from AMR Power Pvt. Ltd. dam built across the Netravati at Shambhoor in Bantwal taluk.
The DC's sudden move has evoked mixed reactions. While Harinath, the Mayor of Mangaluru City Corporation has expressed displeasure, captains of the local industry and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd have welcomed the decision.
Mr Harinath said that the decision has pained him as normality in drinking water supply in the city has not been restored yet.
“Being the first citizen of Mangaluru I was consulted before taking such an important decision. This is DC's unilateral decision,” said Mr. Harinath adding that DC should answer how water could be supplied to the people if the catchment areas of the Netravati did not receive rain before June 10.
Meanwhile, MRPL exuded confidence of operations returning to normal over next 10-12 days.
When the order was issued, the water-level at the Thumbe dam stood at 8.11 ft against the maximum level of 13 ft. (According to a corporation official, the water-level rose to 9 ft in the evening.)
The order said that it has been estimated that the storage at Thumbe would be enough for 15 days supply to the city.
The India Meteorological Department has estimated that monsoon would arrive in the end of first week of June.
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