Water Crisis in Tamilnadu — Who is to be blamed?
Somebody sent me this article today: https://tamil.thehindu.com/opin…/columns/article28025829.ece
And the blurb says: “தண்ணீர் பிரச்சனையை நாம் பார்க்க வேண்டிய பார்வை, அரசின் மோசமான நீர் மேலாண்மை, அன்றாடம் நீரை பயன்படுத்தும் நாம் இனி செய்ய வேண்டிய கடமை, கடல் நீரை குடிநீராக மாற்றினால் ஏற்படும் பேராபத்து மற்றும் அதன் அவசியமின்மை பற்றிய பதிவு. முழுமையாக படித்து அறிவுபூர்வமாக சிந்திக்க வேண்டிய தருணம் இது.”
The article basically squarely blames the Government for not foreseeing and handling the water crisis. I have a different take on this crisis going by the numbers.
1 TMC = 1 thousand million cubic feet of water = 28,316,847 cubic meter of water approximately = 28,31,68,46,592 litres
Population of the state of Tamilnadu =~ 7 Crores
Per person, the mandate for water decided per day is at least 130 litres. This is as per the WHO standards and every corporation in India goes by this as the minimum requirement.
Per person need per day = 130 litres = 4.59091E-09 TMC
Per person need per year = 47450 litres = 1.67568E-06 TMC
So, the Tamilnadu population’s water needs per year = 3.796E+12 litres = 134.0544749 TMC!
Based on the inflow Karnataka is demanding its due share of water from the river. … In its verdict, the Cauvery Water Tribunal has allocated 419 TMC of water annually to Tamil Nadu and 270 TMC to Karnataka; 30 TMC of Cauvery river water to Kerala and 7 TMC to Puducherry.
Cauvery Authority directs Karnataka to release 9.19 tmcft water to Tamil Nadu for June:
So, every month, if about 10 TMC of water is released, the basic PERSONAL water needs of the state will be satisfied. We have not considered water being used for any other purpose, including Agriculture.
India has 18% of world population, having 4% of world’s fresh water, out of which 80% is used in agriculture. Essentially, we are talking about 4 times more water requirement for Agriculture (i.e.) over 400 TMC of water more is required for Agriculture.
The normal annual rainfall of Tamilnadu is about 945 mm (37.2 in) of which 48% is through the North East monsoon, and 32% through the South West monsoon. This is woefully insufficient considering the requirement.
I agree the present state government of Tamilnadu has not been at its best, but so have all the prior governments been. So, blaming the government is the easy job but is anybody working towards a solution? That’s the key.
There are several things that have to be explored:
- Reducing agricultural need of water (agri sucks the biggest quantum of water every year);
- Reducing household usage of water by every single person right from fixing leaking taps to reducing shower baths to installing water harvesting / recycling mechanisms at homes;
- Recycling the water (triple recycling is a standard in developed countries) for household purposes again;
- Increasing efficiency of water distribution (today 40% of water goes waste through water thefts and leakage in the distribution system), etc…
These are the things that have to be debated in the mainstream Media. However, the MSM in Tamilnadu is too busy arguing about a dumb comment made by a dumb idiot about a great Tamil King of the past, who ironically is considered among the greatest water management visionaries of the World!
Finally, who is to be blamed for this Water Crisis? All of us! We all hold the collective responsibility of the current situation and the solution is also in our hands. Let’s work towards solutioning than pointing fingers at this time of crisis.
