Thumbe vented dam water floods fields, crops damaged

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Dec 28,2016: Reports confirm that MCC, Mangaluru City Corporation,  in order to overcome the water shortage faced by the city last year had decided to store water upto 4 metre level in the newly constructed vented dam at Thumbe having a storage capacity of 7 metres.

But,  when the water level in the dam is said to have reached the 5 metre mark, the agricultural land in the surrounding areas was flooded, washing away the mature paddy crops and resulting in huge losses for the farmers. The fields now are all in a semi submerged state.  More than 2 acre of fully grown paddy crop were destroyed in the Karandady village in Sajipa Munnur Gram Panchayath limits. Local Zilla Panchayath member Chandraprakash Shetty visited the area and spoke with the affected farmers.   Chandraprakash Shetty called the MCC commissioner from the affected area and joined farmers in condemning MCC’s unilateral decision of increasing water level beyond 4 metre which resulted in the crop losses.

He was also critical of MCC policy on land value by splitting the affected area into urban and rural. Rather he demanded uniformity by splitting the land on barren and wet land basis and compensating the affected farmers accordingly. MCC Commissioner Nazeer assured farmers of visit to the affected areas to take stock of the situation in the near future.