Dakshina Kannada prepares for summer with focus on water and fire safety
Mangaluru, March 17, 2023: Forest and fire department officials in Mangaluru are working hard to put out forest fires and other fire incidents in the district. To further facilitate these efforts, Deputy Commissioner Ravikumar MR has called on heavy industries and business houses in the area to provide the services of their fire tenders.
Speaking after presiding over a meeting of the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday, March 17, at the Deputy Commissioner’s office auditorium in the city, Ravikumar MR said, “There are a lot of heavy industries in the district including MCF, MRPL, IOC, etc. To extinguish forest fires and other fire incidents during summer, it would be helpful if there are additional fire tenders.”
He instructed Joint Director of the District Industries and Commerce Department, Gokuldas Nayak, to work on steps that could be taken in this direction.
The Deputy Commissioner also stressed the need to prepare for untimely rains in the district and ensure that essential medicines are stocked at all health centers to mitigate the ill-effects on the public.
He instructed the health department officials to take appropriate precautionary measures and directed the officials of the Animal Husbandry Department to ensure that water and fodder do not run down in the gaushalas in the district.
Further, the Deputy Commissioner called for necessary steps to be taken to ensure there is no shortage of drinking water during the summer season in Mangaluru city corporation limits.
Discussions were held during the meeting on supplying water on alternative days or for a few hours a day to the city if the water level in the Thumbe dam reaches its lowest level. The official also informed the meeting that there was no problem of drinking water in the limits. Still, in case of a problem, new borewells would be drilled with the help of geologists of the district and necessary action would be taken to supply water.
The Deputy Commissioner instructed a team of officials to monitor drinking water conditions in the respective Gram Panchayat limits and ensure there is no shortage of drinking water in rural areas of the district. Due to dry areas in Balepuni, Narikombu, Konaje, Talapady, and Manjanadi, the groundwater level is very low, and available funds will be used for deepening and flushing of borewells. Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Kumar informed the meeting that some borewells have yielded good results, while new ones will be laid elsewhere.
The Deputy Commissioner also urged MESCOM to provide urgent electricity connections wherever required, cut high voltage electric wires, transformers, and trees in places where electricity lines have passed through to avoid fire accidents. The forest department was also called upon to cooperate in this task.
The meeting was attended by Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Chennabasappa, District Fire Brigade Officer Bharath Kumar, district-level officials, and officials of Mangaluru City Corporation.
