Mangaluru: The Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) has two pumping stations of 80 MLD capacity each at Thumbe. It uses these pumps to pump 140 MLD to the City. However between the the pumping station and the city’s Padil junction, there is a loss of nearly 40 MLD due to illegal tapping on the way and only 100 MLD reaches Mangaluru. However within Mangaluru itself there is further loss of 30 MLD due transit and theft, leaving only 70 MLD reaching homes and establishments in the city. 
In a meeting at the Circuit House on September 17, 2014 to discuss this issue, Minister in-charge of Dakshina Kannada B. Ramanath Rai had instructed Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat to take over a water supply line with a capacity of 2.25 million gallons a day (MGD) from the MCC, in order to supply water to houses under gram panchayats between Thumbe and Adyar.
Rai had asked the panchayat to take over the line within a week so that illegal connections on the other two could be disconnected later. But it has not yet been done. The meeting was attended, among others, by the two MLAs of the city, the then Mayor Mahabala Marla, and the then ZP chief executive officer Thulasi Maddeneni.
According to the corporation, there were at least 25 illegal connections along the route of the pipelines.
This allegation has been countered by another argument – there is no treated water in the 2.25 million MGD capacity pipeline. N.R. Umesh, Deputy Secretary, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, said that treated water was not being supplied in the 2.25 million MGD capacity pipeline. People had taken connections from other main pipelines.
As people demand treated water, constructing a water treatment plant at Thumbe to supply water through the 2.25 MGD capacity pipeline would cost about Rs. 23 crore. The panchayat in its 2015-16 budget had reserved a token grant of one-third of the estimated cost for it.
He said it would require at least two years to realise this project as the ZP did not have sufficient funds.
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Illegal tapping of water pipelines leaves city thirsting
