3rd May,2019 Cyclone Fani hits Odisha. For almost a week the capital city Bhubaneswar suffered from shortage of water and no-electricity. Perhaps first time a capital was facing such gravest problem whereas the rural areas were well-electrified. Same in case of Chennai, the state capital is running short of water as compared to other parts of Tamilnadu. Finding a solution to the water crisis in the 6th largest city of the country is getting hard each passing day. A law and order Situation may emerge in coming days if the problem persists longer.
Report by UNICEF & WHO (Progress on household drinking water,sanitation and hygiene) states that 99% people in south Asia have access to safe drinking water, which is higher than Latin American figure(97%). So how come this water crisis in Chennai?
Most parts of South Asia receive water from North-West(NW) monsoon, especially India, and from melting of Himalayan Glaciers. But, Tamilnadu is an exception as it receives rain-fall from North-East(NE) monsoon which causes rain in November-December of the year, every year from NE monsoon an avrage of 135cm rainfall is received. In 2018, this figure went down to below 40cm. So, the first reason is weak monsoon. And the problem began last year like a slow poision whose effect is being felt now. With such little amount of rain water the 4 major reservoirs(Cholavarram,Chembarambakkam,Puzhal, Poondi) which supply water to chennai are on the line to dry up.
PRESENT STATUS:-
The govt has left with no option, except providing water tankers on a regular basis. By this how many days things will go on is yet to be seen. The Situatuon has so-deteriotated, that the supply has been decreased to 1/3rd compared to a normal supply.The state govt refused Kerala govt’s aid of providing drinking water by train due to political interests.This year NW monsoon has been delayed by a week. So NE monsoon might be also late to give relief to chennai. Overall to get a better scenario the govt need to keep people in control at least till mid of October.
IN FUTURE:-
Composite Water Management Index of NITI Ayog states that by 2020 ,21 major cities of India will run out of ground water. This includes the National capital Delhi. And by 2040 there will be no drinking water in most part of the country. This is really a warning. In rainy season every city gets water logged. If proper Rain water harvesting projects are initiated then these water can be used. All the coastal states need to start desalinising sea-water to tackle drinking water problem. Water is a basic necessity for people and more investment should be done in this regards rather on bullet train projects. Yes ,country needs infrastructure but, basic facilities must be fulfilled first. In 2015 Tamilnadu faced severe flood due to NE monsoon. In 4 years it is facing water shortage. So proper water management needs to be done and for that a body needs to be setup. And above all the citizens must realize this issue in water surplus area and stop wasting of water.
Shortage of water is not an issue, moreover an alarm for the upcoming dangers that can put the country into a moribund state
About the author- The author of this article, Subrat Pradhan, is a science graduate in zoology from UN College, Cuttack.
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