Water scarcity grips Uttara Kannada dist

Karwar: Uttara Kannada district grapples with a severe water crisis as more than 165 villages, nestled in the coastal and mountainous regions, reel under the grip of drought. The situation has escalated in 46 villages where wells and borewells have run dry, leaving residents with access to water only once a week. Adding to the distress, 224 out of the 241 clean drinking water units constructed by the Zilla Panchayat have been forced to shut down due to inadequate maintenance and electricity connection issues. The communities of Mundagoda, Siddapur, and Kumta are particularly hard hit, contending with wells and borewells yielding unclean water.

The hillsides bear witness to the stark reality of the crisis, with over 120 borewells and 80 public wells rendered dry. Despite efforts to implement alternative water distribution systems across 11 taluks, challenges persist due to the scarcity of available water resources. While emergency borewells have been drilled in some areas, many communities continue to grapple with water scarcity owing to insufficient water availability.

The predicament extends to coastal regions, where wells in Ankola and Karwar are contaminated with saltwater, exacerbating the crisis. In the highlands of Sirsi, public wells have dried up entirely, leaving residents of Kasturaba layout without access to even a single koda of drinking water each week. In response, the Jivajala Task Force Sirsi has stepped in to collaborate with the municipal council to alleviate the plight by supplying drinking water to affected areas.

With the water scarcity in Uttara Kannada district reaching critical levels, the absence of rainfall in several parts of the region exacerbates the predicament. Unless substantial rainfall occurs within the next two days, there looms a looming threat of river sources in the district running dry, further exacerbating the crisis and deepening the plight of the affected communities