Udupi's water crisis worsens; supply once in three days from today

May 27, 2016

Udupi, May 27: The coastal city of Udupi continued to be hit by serious water crisis as the water-level at the Baje Dam across the Swarna has receded sharply. The Baje dam is the main sources of water to the residents of Udupi.

The Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) has decided to supply water once in three days from Friday. Currently water is being supplied on alternate days in all 35 wards of the city.

D Manjunathaiah, Municipal Commissioner, said that the decline in the water-level at Baje had forced the municipal council to supply water once in three days from Friday. The municipal council also issued the schedule when water will be supplied to different areas of the city.

Accordingly, Ajjarkad, Kinnimulki, Tenkapete, Volakadu, Bailoor, Shiribeedu, Bannanje, Ambalpadi, Chitpady, Nittur, Karamballi, Kakkunje, Kadiyali, Gundibail (Doddanagudde) will receive water from 4.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.

Areas such as Indira Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Badagabettu, Kunjibettu, Indrali, Manchi, Subrahmanya Nagar, Gopalpura, Moodabettu, Mooduperampalli, Sagri, Kodankur and part of Kodavoor will receive water from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Parkala and Settibettu will get water from 5.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m.

Kalmady, Eshwar Nagar, Saralebettu, Male Central, Vadabhandeshwar, Kola and part of Kodavoor will receive water from 2 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., while Manipal, Ananth Nagar and Duglipadavu will get water from 5.30 a.m. to 7.30 a.m. The municipal council has urged the citizens to use water judiciously, the release said.

An officer in the CMC said that the water-level at Baje had reached dead storage level. At present, water was being pumped from a pit on the riverbed of the Swarna at Puttige Bridge. This water was enough for two days.

There was another pit near the Puttige Mutt area on the riverbed. The water in this pit was enough for four or five days. The water from a second pit on the western side of Puttige Mutt will be enough for four or five days. “Roughly, we have water for about 12 days,” he said.

“We hope there will be rain in the catchment area in the next 10-12 days,” he said.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

Comments