City’s 24/7 water supply project expected to be completed by March 2027

Mangaluru: The Jalasiri 24/7 Mangaluru water supply project is expected to be completed by March 2027, said officials on Friday.

The Rs 617.2 crore critical water supply infrastructure project is being implemented by Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), and was awarded to a joint venture agency of Suez India Ltd and DRS Infra Tech Pvt Ltd.

The project started in 2019, was expected to be completed in May 2023, but was delayed owing to Covid. So far, 76% of the works have been completed including the water treatment plant in Adyar.

According to officials, based on the estimated 2020 population of 5,71,249, including Panambur industrial area, NMPT, MCF and DKMU, the city’s water demand stood at 160.3 MLD, including 20% losses. However, the project has been designed to meet demand for the next 30 years. They stated that by 2031, the demand is projected to reach 213.1 MLD, and by 2046 it is expected to rise to 276.7 MLD.

The officials highlighted that the entire city gets covered under the threee master balancing reservoirs (MBRs) at Padil, Bendoor and Panambur, and for the project divided Mangaluru city into 54 zones.

According to officials, so far 85.8% of the clear water transmission mains (CWTM) work has been completed, while the distribution network has reached 74%. Work on overhead tanks (OHTs) stands at 88%, and ground-level service reservoirs (GLSRs) have achieved 95% progress. The installation of intermediate pumping stations (IPS) is 80% complete.

In the house service connections (HSC), 38,200 connections have been completed out of the total planned 95,000, achieving 40.2% progress. Officials noted that authorisation has been granted only for 82,849 connections so far, against which the progress stands at 46.1%.

The project also includes a 125 MLD dissolved air flotation and filtration (DAFF) technology-based water treatment plant at Adyar, which officials described as a first-of-its-kind in India. It has reached 50% completion, while road restoration works are almost complete at 99% .

The officials added that the entire city will be covered under three master balancing reservoirs located at Padil, Bendoor and Panambur, and that Mangaluru has been divided into 54 zones under the project.

The officials also added that in Panambur almost all works are completed and 4 km is pending, while in Bendoor and Padil, 50% and more than 80% works respectively are completed.

On Friday, officials took a media team to the GLSR( Ground level service reserviour) cum OHT (over head tank) project site in Kodikal.