The government has planned to construct a new vented dam near Dharmasthala, which is facing severe water crisis.
This is in addition to the existing one across the Netravathi at ‘snana ghatta’ (bathing ghat), about 3 km away from Dharmasthala, supplying water to the Lord Manjunatha temple and the town.
A communiqué from the Chief Minister’s Office said on Monday that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has taken the issue seriously. Accordingly, Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar discussed the issue with D. Veerendra Heggade, Pattadhikari, Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, wherein the latter expressed the need to build an additional dam to mitigate the crisis in future.
On the instruction from the Chief Secretary, Selvamani R., Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, with a team of engineers and officials visited Dharmasthala on Monday to inspect the site for building the new dam.