On January 31st, 2021, a meeting was held with Mr. Sudhip Chandra of the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) to discuss the Varahi Water Supply project for Udupi. The project's objective is to prepare, formulate, and implement infrastructure development projects in urban areas, specifically land development, sanitation, road management, transportation, and other interconnected subjects.
The
Karnataka government established the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal
Environmental Management Project (KUDCEMP) to implement the Udupi water supply
project. KUDCEMP, with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank,
has been implemented in ten coastal towns in Karnataka, including Mangalore, Ullal,
Puttur, Udupi, Kundapura, Ankola, Bhatkal, Dandeli, Karwar, and Sirsi.
The
project includes various components, such as water supply rehabilitation and
expansion, urban environmental improvement, street and bridge improvement,
coastal environmental management, and implementation assistance. The goal of
water supply rehabilitation and expansion is to increase the capacity of the
water supply system in the project towns. The urban environmental improvement
component involves projects to improve stormwater drainage, underground
drainage, solid waste management, traffic management, and rehabilitation of
public markets to improve the urban environment. Street and bridge improvement
focuses on the improvement of roads and bridges in the project towns, while coastal
environmental management aims to protect, conserve, and manage coastal
resources under the project. Implementation assistance includes appointing
consultants for design, construction, supervision, project management, and
procuring necessary equipment and vehicles.
Udupi's
Varahi Water Supply project aims to augment 40 million litres per day (MLD) of
water supply within one year. The plan includes laying pipelines from the
jackwell of the non-functional lift irrigation pump house at Bharathkal village
on the banks of the River Varahi to the dam across the River Swarna at Baje,
about 15 kilometers from Udupi city. However, the existing 27.24-MLD capacity
water treatment plant (WTP), constructed under the KUDCEMP scheme, would not
meet the demands in the year 2046. Therefore, a new WTP and seven overhead
water tanks will be constructed as part of the project to meet the growing
demand for water supply in the future.
Q: Do
you have plans to replace the connections?
A:
Yes, 100 per cent we will replace all the connections and meters.
Q: Who
will provide the water to residents? What about the meter?
A: The
municipality will provide water to all residents as usual. Varahi water will
come to Manipal and be redistributed from there. In the next project, we will
be connecting an Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) meter, and facilities will be
made to connect that meter in the future, so that further expenditure will be
reduced. Just by inserting a chip to the new meter that we are going to connect
now, the AMR facility will be provided. In the AMR facility, the meter reader
is not required to go to every house, easily he can get the reading. The old
meter will be replaced.
Q:
What about the expenditure?
A: No
extra expenditure. Only for a new connection, you have to pay a prescribed fee
to the municipality. For the existing connection, no additional expenditure.
For every house, we have to fix individual saddle instead of one pipeline
connecting different houses, causing low pressure.
Q:
Will there be continuous water supply? What about the pipes and meter?
A:
After the implementation of the Varahi supported project, we will have
continuous water supply. That is why we will be fitting Medium Density
Polyethylene Pipes (MDB) so that damage of PVC pipes will be avoided. This pipe
will not be damaged by heating. The meter will be fixed in front of the house
and not in the back of the house to avoid problems.
Q:
When will the project be completed?
A: Our
project was supposed to be completed by May 2022, but due to COVID-19, the
project period has been extended by another six months and will be completed by
December 2022. Within this period of two years, we will be providing connections.
Q:
When will you start pumping water from Varahi?
A: Our
plan was to pump water to Baje so that we can use the treatment plant of Baje,
and to use the old pipeline of Baje to Manipal, but to cut the cost, we decided
to pump water to Manipal.
Q:
What about the quantum of supply of water to Udupi?
A:
Currently, residents are getting water for a particular time, say 2 hours or 3
hours in a day. After the implementation of this project, residents will not
have to wait, and they will be given 24-hour water supply. After use, the ball
valve will close, and the water will go to the next area, ensuring that
everyone gets adequate pressure. We will provide a 7-meter head pressure, and
all the highest placed areas will have 7-meter pressure, that would be our design.
Q: How
will you build up pressure?
A: For
example, in Udupi, we have 10 tanks. Apart from those ten tanks, we will
construct 7 more tanks. We have collected data about the number of people
living in Udupi and Manipal and we compare that data with the municipality
provided 2007 data. Based on projection strata, we estimate the future demand,
and the necessary pipeline will be laid. We keep in mind the demand of 2046.
Per head 135 liters per day will be kept in mind while providing all the water
infrastructure. On that basis, we are going to construct new tanks which will
provide the required pressure. For example, we have a 10 lakh-liter capacity
tank at Manipal, the coverage of existing area with that tank, zones will be
created. With GIS Software, based on the future requirements, the backside of
Manipal Anganavadi, we will be constructing a new tank with 7.
To
ensure adequate water pressure, we are using GIS software to create zones based
on the coverage of our existing 10 lakh liter capacity tank in Manipal. Using
this data, we are constructing a new tank with a 7.5 lakh liter capacity behind
Manipal Anganavadi to meet future demand. During construction, we are
prioritizing maintaining optimal water pressure. While Manipal has no pressure
issues, valve operation can cause pressure problems. In Udupi, the highest area
is 96 meters above sea level.
