Mangaluru, (The Hindu): The State government has released 10 crore as compensation to those people whose land got submerged as the water in the Thumbe vented dam was stored up to 6m high, according to J.R. Lobo, MLA, Mangaluru City South.

Speaking to reporters, at the site of the dam built across the Netravathi near B.C. Road on Saturday, he said that 25 acres of 37 persons got submerged. 15 crore was required to be paid as compensation to them and the government on March 2 issued an order releasing 10 crore.

He said that the current storage in the dam would be enough to supply water daily to Mangaluru, Ullal, Mulky and 27 nearby villages for two months. The storage has helped farmers nearby as groundwater table has not come down. The inflow in the river has not completely stopped.

Mangaluru City Corporation and other civic bodies should supply water for drinking carefully without wasting.

If the water was stored up to 7m, the maximum storage level, it would ensure a daily supply of three months to Mangaluru and other areas, he said.

Earlier, Mangaluru Mayor Kavita Sanil, Mr. Lobo and others did the annual Ganga puja and offered ‘bagina’ to the river at the dam.

The Mayor said that the city might not face drinking water crisis this year and asked people to make judicious use of water.

With 6m high, now the storage in the dam stood at 10.83 MCM (million cubic metres). If the storage was increased to 7m then the dam would have 14.73 MCM of water, she said.

The new dam which has been built at a cost of 75 crore is 343.5m long and has 30 gates or vents.

The Mayor said that Mangaluru Smart City Ltd., a company formed to implemented smart city mission projects in Mangaluru, in its meeting in Bengaluru on Friday has given approval for rebuilding the clock tower at Hampankatta in the city at an estimated cost of 90 lakh.