Residents collect drinking water in colorful pots in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, India, on June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Stringer)
by Pankaj Yadav, Apra Vaidya
NEW DELHI, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Acute potable-water crisis has hit India's southern city of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, even as the state government has all gone into a tizzy to address the problem.
According to official estimates, Chennai requires as much as 1,200 million liters per day (MLD) of water every day, whereas, at present only 525 MLD is being provided.
State Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has directed his administration to arrange transportation of potable water from Vellore city to Chennai, a distance of around 140 km, through train. As much as 10 million liters per day would be transported every day, sources in the state government told Xinhua.
Fetching 10 million MLD of water from Vellore to Chennai could cost the state government around 650 million Indian Rupees (9.8 million U.S. dollars) per day.
Meanwhile, the main opposition party, the Dravid Munetra Kazhagham (DMK) has decided to stage protests in the state against the "mismanagement" of the water crisis by the ruling All India Anna Dravid Munetra Kazhagham (AIADMK) and its "failure" in addressing it.
Refuting media reports that special treatment was being meted out to him and his ministers by providing them excess water with the help of water tankers, Palaniswami quipped that for the past few weeks he had been living alone as his family had been away, using just two buckets of water for bathing etc. and drinking only four liters of water per day.
Residents collect drinking water in colorful pots in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, India, on June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Stringer)
As per the data provided by the "Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board", some of the major sources of fresh water have gone dry. The "Cholavaram Lake" which has a capacity of 1,081 million cubic feet (mcft), the "Redhills Lake" having a full capacity 3,300 mcft, and the "Chembarambakkam Lake" having a full capacity of 3,645 mcft, that supplied water to Chennai had gone dry. Now, only 20 mcft water was left in the "Poondi Reservoir" which has a full capacity of 3,231 mcft.
Chennai, one of India's four metropolis cities, is a coastal city located on the shores of Bay of Bengal.
Hotels in the city are bearing the brunt amidst the water crisis, as their business has been adversely affected and water-tankers have increased the prices manifold.
"Hotel industry has been affected by up to 25 percent. There are more than 1,000 star hotels in Chennai, including 5-star, 4-star, 3-star and others. Several restaurants got closed for a few days due to water shortage in the city," said president of the "Chennai Hotels Association" M. Ravi.
He further said that water-tankers have increased the price as a full load of water which used to cost nearly 1,000 Indian Rupees earlier, are now available at a whopping 5,000 Indian Rupees. "The situation is difficult and we are hoping that the problem resolves soon otherwise it will hit more hotels and restaurants in the coming days," added Ravi.
A senior executive of a 5-star hotel in Chennai said, "it is becoming a little difficult to source water for our daily needs. We are managing for now but only after much difficulty. Hope things improve as rains have begun in Chennai."
In order to combat the situation, efforts are being made to restore the Rain Water Harvesting systems in the state and reviving as many as 55 water bodies (lakes) which were once the sources of fresh water but now dried up.
A resident collects drinking water in colorful pots and others in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, India, on June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Stringer)
The water crisis has also hit hard the offices in the Information Technology sector. Some of the companies have shifted their ITES (IT-enabled services) to nearby cities, while some have asked their employees to work from home till the crisis gets over.
President of the "Union of IT & ITES Employees" Baranidharan told Xinhua that due to water shortage, almost all the IT companies have been suffering.
"Several small IT companies have asked their employees to start working from home as there is no drinking water for the employees in the office. In addition to this, the big companies which have branches in different states, have asked some of their employees to temporary shift to those branches to work until the crisis gets over in Chennai," he added.
Baranidharan also said that earlier they used to get water from the lorry in a day but now one needs to wait for 4-5 days to get water.
Meanwhile, the country's Water Minister Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday appealed the countrymen for judicious use of water in order to save the country from future calamities.
"Every drop of water should be saved and conserved and all should make a combined effort for judicious use of water on a continuous mode," he said at a function in New Delhi.
He also said that India had achieved the distinction of a food exporting country from being a food deficient nation, but the scarcity of water in near future can worsen the situation and hence there is a need for the revival of traditional water bodies and more vigorous effort should be made for water conservation.