MANGALURU: Mangalureans may heave a sigh of relief. Pumping of drinking water to Mangaluru city from Thumbe dam has resumed after water level in Nethravati river decreased to 7.9mts from 9.1mts on Friday.Pumping water to Mangaluru city, Ullal and parts of Bantwal was stopped following an increase in the water level in Nethravati river at Thumbe.The water level at the new dam at Thumbe in Bantwal taluk, which was commissioned in December 2016, had risen to 9.1 meters on Friday against the maximum storage level of 11 meters. Following this, Mescom authorities were forced to disconnect its 33kv exclusive feeder line, which is passing in a close proximity to the Nethravati backwaters. Pumping of water from the dam was stopped from 6.30pm on Thursday and later it was resumed by around 1.15am on Friday after the water level in the river decreased to 8.5 meters.Mayor K Bhaskar Moily, ruling party chief whip in Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) council M Shashidhar Hegde, MCC commissioner Mohammed Nazeer and engineers inspected the dam and pump house on Friday. The mayor said, “The water supply to the city will be continued uninterrupted as the water level in the river has decreased to 7.9 meters now.”MCC executive engineer K S Lingegowda said that the water of Nethravati river at Thumbe had touched 11.89 meters level on July 26, 1974. “This is for the first time the water level in the river at Thumbe has touched 9.1 meters after 1974. The old dam of 4 meters height had submerged then. Mescom has a proposal to lay underground cables to supply 33kv power supply to Thumbe dam to solve the crisis,” he added.

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