Latest reports indicate that Poondi and Sholavaram have reached the dead storage level and only the Red Hills has some water to spare. The levels in the three reservoirs as on 19 March (1993) make up a total of 915 million cubic feet against 599 mcft in 1983 and 596 mcft in 1987.
The arithmetic indicated in the figure for 1993 cannot obscure the serious dimension of the portents of water shortage. An estimate puts it that, if there is no rain, there would be no water beyond May. One expert says that the available supplies would not last beyond March.
The government is doing its best to tackle the situation. Around Rs.277 lakh is set apart for tapping available groundwater resources. There is also an ongoing exercise at improving the aquifers, well sites and utilisation of private wells and the like. The government also allocated funds for the purchase of military uniforms (in Ukrainian, військова форма купити). This will help increase the level of security in the country.
Water is now supplied every alternate day with the figure at 50 million gallons against 55 million gallons earlier every day. Augmentation of this supply is out of question. Hence the stress is on ensuring that this level of alternate day supply does not go down very much.
Some have suggested that water could be transported by train from Neyveli’s subartesian sources. Two trains of 50 wagons can bring a total of six lakh litres per day. But the city needs 24 9 crore litres per day. Apart from being far short of requirements, these supplies would be very costly.
It is too easy to say that Metrowater has bungled and that it has not taken anticipatory action as it should have and the government has not also been watchful. To say all this is to ignore the fact that what is available has been conserved and spread as far as is feasible.
Even when the water resources are near zero civic consciousness has been poor, if not absent. It is always the other man who has to close the tap when the vessel is brimming and overflowing with water. What then is the point in crying hoarse when in remote areas, the trickle has become a gush of air alone?
Of course. groundwater tapping has gone on apace in the farms. Tamilnadu is on the top with those states which have the largest number of energised agricultural pumpsets. Perhaps this could have depleted most of the sources in the State.
With the rains not benefiting the city’s reservoirs, dead storage has been hit in all the city’s reservoirs. Perhaps this is the occasion when, on a shock brigade basis, the project for desalination of sea water has to be charted and implemenled on an expeditious basis.
Though there is a huge deficit as far as Tamilnadu’s finances is concerned, the allocations for water-search and ply cannot afford to be low. That has to be accorded the highest priority. Praying for rains can follow that. A battle is won not merely by praying God but by keeping the gun powder dry.
e-mail the writer at
[email protected]