Water crisis means, not fulfilling the water demand, the supply-demand gap of water. This year, Chennai observed " day zero", where water supply from the municipality was switched off and public from Chennai would have to line up for their daily water demand and it will be fulfilled by private or public water tankers.
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| chennai- water- crisis |
Water is such an essential part of human life, without water, civilization cannot sustain. It affects not only human but animal, birds and every aspect of ecology life.
Water is used for:
Chennai is India 4th biggest populous city after Mumbai, New Delhi & Kolkata and 3rd in term of GDP after New Delhi & Mumbai. Chennai is not immune to disaster from tsunami to flood and now drought. Chennai water crisis is a man-made disaster; it is not the result of climate change or meteorological phenomena as annual precipitation is generally 1300 mm to 1400 mm. Chennai nickname is the “Detroit of India” and aspiration to become major automobile hub & economic hub of the world will be hampered badly. Chennai water crisis could be avoided if the action was taken timely.- Drinking Purpose
- Cleaning purpose
- Economy activities such as Restaurant, offices & factory, etc.
Main Reasons for Water Crisis in Chennai are:
1. Dryness of water in City’s four major reservoirs:
Four reservoirs ( i.e Red Hills, Chembarambakkam, Cholavaram, and Poondi) that fulfill 60 % of city water requirement was shrunk & now dried. Now, these reservoirs have become grazing ground. Reasons for dryness are:
- Shallow depth because of silting
- Weak Northeast monsoon
- Overconsumption due to the increasing population both natural & immigration
- Heatwave & late monsoon resulted over evaporation
2. Neglect of water Governance:
Mismatch of water demand & supply, absence of the short term & long term water harvesting planning is proof of misgovernance.
After Chennai flood in 2015, CAG submitted an audit report on water storage effort. It was found the faulty planning and lack of co-operation in various government agencies.
3. No drinkable water in local rivers:
Rivers are polluted and water of the same is not drinkable. Three River-The Adyar, the Kosasthlair, and the Coom; that flow to the Bay of Bengal through Chennai are highly toxic & polluted due to the effluent of untreated sewage.
4. Encroachment of flood area and reduction the area of groundwater recharging
5. Compulsory water harvesting rules were made but no ground-level implementation.
Solutions:
- Time-bound action plans for water bodies’ restoration including depth & width increase
- Consult of researcher, scholar & public comment before any action plans
- Installation of desalination plants in coastal areas
- Efficient implementation of rainwater harvesting & prudent rainfall management will help
- Give the incentive to NGO &local people of water harvesting
- Wastewater re-use
- Protection of flood plains, lakes and wetlands
Without water no life. If prudent & timely action & implementation is not taken than Chennai or other parts of the country will be faced the same problems in future also.
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