Mandya district authorities have ordered intensified monitoring of village drinking-water supplies, grievance response and water-quality testing as Karnataka manages scarcity alongside a fresh Cauvery water-release direction to Tamil Nadu.
Zilla panchayat chief executive officer KR Nandini issued the instructions at a meeting at the zilla panchayat office on Friday. She directed nodal officers to regularly visit villages facing shortages, assess the availability and supply of drinking water, identify residents’ problems and take corrective action promptly.
Officials were also instructed to ensure that private borewells being used during emergencies receive their rents on time. Gram panchayats have been asked to prominently display drinking-water helpline numbers so that residents can report supply-related complaints. The zilla panchayat will conduct test calls to check whether the published numbers are functioning.
The directions also cover the safety of available water. Panchayat development officers were told to ensure regular cleaning of overhead water tanks within their gram panchayat limits. They were asked to test water samples using Field Test Kits to assess quality and identify potential contamination risks.
The district-level response comes as Karnataka faces pressure on its water resources following a decision on Cauvery releases. The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directed Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from October 9. The Cauvery Water Management Authority upheld the recommendation at its meeting on Thursday.
Tamil Nadu had sought the release of 15,050 cusecs daily, equivalent to 20 TMC over 15 days. The committee’s direction amounts to approximately 3.8 TMC over the period, with the water to be released at Biligundlu, according to water resources minister N Cheluvarayaswamy.
Karnataka told the authorities that reservoir inflows had recorded a 54.5% deficit between June 1 and October 7. The state received 117.1 TMC during this period against a 30-year average of 257.6 TMC, according to the figures cited in the report.
The state also said it had released 42.4 TMC to Tamil Nadu against a directed quantity of 41.2 TMC, exceeding the requirement by 1.2 TMC. Karnataka further stated that storage in its four major reservoirs stood at 46.9 TMC as of October 7. Of this, around 45 TMC was required for drinking water, environmental flows and evaporation losses, leaving limited water for irrigation, the minister said.
The availability of water in the KRS and Kabini reservoirs is particularly significant for the drinking-water needs of Mysuru, Mandya and Bengaluru. The state government is focusing on supplying drinking water to these urban and rural areas from the two dams, according to the report.
The Cauvery order has also drawn political criticism. Mysuru City Congress vice-president KV Mallesh criticised the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s decision to require another 15 days of releases and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene. The district administration’s immediate measures, however, remain focused on identifying local shortages, maintaining emergency sources, checking water quality and keeping complaint channels operational.
