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The spectre of ‘Day Zero’ casts a dark shadow over Bengaluru, but the city’s not alone in Karnataka — Mangaluru and Shivamogga (also known as Shimoga) also teeter on the brink of a water crisis and are being closely monitored by environmentalists and activists.
The lifeline for these cities lies in the monsoons, which traditionally provide temporary relief by replenishing water reserves. However, with the volume of monsoon rains dwindling and becoming increasingly erratic, this reliance has become precarious.
Though Shivamogga is also on the radar of expert studies regarding an impending water crisis, it may not become concerned about water for several years because it has a natural drain system that empties stormwater into the rivers that run along the landlocked region, as opposed to the coastal region.
However, the district has been experiencing a shortage since last year. In 2023, villagers in Shivamogga district began protesting against a multi-village water supply scheme, raising concerns about the project’s potential impact on their lives as water was to be pumped from one point.
In November 2023, the minister-in-charge of the district stated that 238 villages in the district are expected to encounter drinking water problems in the future due to insufficient rains, but arrangements were being made to counter them. Shivamogga Zila Panchayat has been digging more borewells to alleviate the drinking water problem.
However, according to minor irrigation engineers, the groundwater levels are going down every year, primarily due to the over-exploitation of surface water for irrigating water-guzzling crops like areca nut and paddy.
Given that areca nut is a commercial crop, farmers are converting their paddy fields into areca plantations, which require large volumes of water year-round. In contrast, paddy cultivation uses water only during two seasons, each lasting around 45 days.
Shivamogga city is rapidly expanding and emerging as a healthcare and education tourism hub, closely following Bangalore and Mangaluru. The development of multi-storey buildings is outpacing that of Mangaluru.
With a travel time of just four hours to Bangalore and Mangaluru, many new-generation industries are finding Shivamogga ideal for their ventures. The recent inauguration of Shivamogga Airport has further boosted the industrial sector.
But the urbanisation will come at a price. “This will inevitably increase water consumption in the coming years; all our rivers rely on monsoon rains. In 2023, when the monsoon failed, the Tunga river, which supplies water to Shivamogga city, saw only 56 per cent of its usual output,” stated Rekha Ranganath, a prominent civic leader in the Shivamogga City Corporation.
The pace of urban development, industrial growth, and real estate expansion in Mangaluru can be likened to that of Bangalore, if not in scale, then certainly in speed. This surge has contributed to the rising demand for domestic water.
Mangaluru city relies solely on the Nethravati river as its water source, which is regulated by a dam located in Thumbay, approximately 22 kilometres from the city. Along the way, numerous towns and villages also depend on this reservoir for water.
In 2016, the Thumbay reservoir reached its dead storage level for the first time since 1969, raising concerns about the city’s water supply reaching ‘Day Zero’. However, the city’s civic body took decisive action and constructed a larger dam, significantly increasing the water supply for Mangaluru city.
“The dam was constructed with the 2026 population in consideration; however, it may soon become inadequate. Additionally, since the Nethravati river relies on monsoon rainfall, we cannot guarantee optimal water level augmentation,” said former mayor M Shashidhar Hegde, who was the first corporator of the Mangaluru City Corporation to moot the construction of a bigger dam as early as 2009.
There are two additional dams upstream of the Thumbay Dam, serving the industrial sector of the city, highlighted engineers in the water supply division of the Mangaluru City Corporation. “When necessary, we are authorised to release water from these facilities to Mangaluru City,” Hegde explained. “This has occurred three times in the past decade, which is noteworthy given unpredictable monsoons and growing demands for domestic and industrial water.”
Further, there is a worrying trend in the region that could exacerbate the water tensions. Over 1,600 acres of vital waterbodies flanking National Highways 75 and 66 en route to the city have been encroached upon for construction purposes. This rampant filling of wetlands obstructs underground water channels, leading to a decline in groundwater levels over recent years.
All undulations of land that hold water are now flatlands, which has triggered topsoil erosion. Over 40 tonnes of topsoil erode every day during the monsoons in coastal urban areas. According to the top soil conservation cell of state government’s department of minor irrigation, the eroded topsoil drains primarily into the river and later into the sea.
This is why the rivers in the coastal areas become shallow during the non-monsoon periods, affecting the water quantity available for the cities and towns, pointed out experts in the department.
This concern is well reflected in the instances of encroachment upon the estuary and banks of the Gurupur river by builders and real estate developers. Violations have been observed in Chitrapur, along the left side of NH 66 between Kulur and Kottara at Baikampady and in Jeppinamogaru. Various sections of the river are being filled with soil, waste materials and other solid waste to reclaim land from the river.
The reclamation is a blatant violation of Coastal Regulation Zones I regulations, which designate the ecological importance of coastal river banks and prohibit their use for other purposes, noted environmental activist group Mangaluru Parisaraskta Okkuta.
According to the Okkuta, over 600 acres of wetlands and waterbodies have been destroyed and reclaimed by real estate developers and builders since 2003.
“This area serves as the primary aquifer for both the Gurupur and Nethravati rivers.It is a significant water reservoir that used to sustain open wells, peat bogs, and the city for at least three months after the monsoon season. However, due to unbalanced city planning, this area is now a thing of the past,” explained environmental activist Pravin Kumar Shetty.