Chennai is witnessing water scarcity. This is no longer news. To overcome the shortage, it was decided to bring water from JolarpettaiĀ to Chennai.Ā The first train carrying water from JolarpettaiĀ railway station to Chennai finally reached the city. It is expected to provide additional 10 MLD of water per day to the city which is reeling under acute scarcity of the essential resource. As many as 50 wagons with a capacity of 54,000 litres each were brought from Rajasthan that were attached to the train to carry the water. The train will carry 25 lakh litres of water and a total of four trips per day will be made. Each trip will cost the State government Rs 8,40,000. The Chief Minister had sanctioned Rs 65 crore for the entire project.
It may be recalled that the Madras High Court had come down heavily on theĀ Tamilnadu government for not taking adequate measures to address the severe water crisis in the State. The HC observed that the government did not take adequate steps even though the water crisis in the wake of failed monsoons was expected. The government said it took steps to handle the crisis (like allotting Rs 212 crore for digging deep borewells), the court directed the Public Works Department (PWD) secretary in the case to submit a State-wide,Ā comprehensive report on the number of reservoirs in the State, steps taken for desilting, amount sanctioned and status of those works.
The government has set up a monitoring committee to look into water supply-related issues. Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister S P Velumani had chaired review meetings to address the water crisis in the State. The need of the hour is rain and concerted effort by people to save water.