Experts show escape route after drastic fall in storage in dams

The total live storage in these reservoirs is 6.58 BCM, which is 13% of the total live storage capacity of the reservoirs – lesser than the capacity last year. Experts say that while it is too late to think about water management this summer, efforts can be taken to mitigate this for the future. 

Tamil Nadu has lesser storage than last year during the corresponding period. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 16% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 25% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. This time, the levels have dropped to 13%, adding to the State’s water woes. 

Dr Sultan Ahmed Ismail, Director of Ecoscience Research Foundation, said that it is too late to implement water management measures this summer. “What we can do is try to harvest water for the coming months. We have neglected to recharge our groundwater but the borewell trend has ruined our aquifers. We need to prepare our tanks and rain water harvesting structures to be ready to store water during the upcoming rainy season. 

The focus should also be on reducing the amount of salt going into the soil – through the use of fertilisers and other products. Farmers should use compost materials than salt. The government should focus on farmer-centric approach, encouraging the production of crops that require less water. In the cities, rain water harvesting should be taken up strongly, at a policy level,” suggested the soil biologist. 

Dr Sekar Raghavan of the Rain Centre said that the waterbodies have not been desilted properly since decades.“They were earlier managed by village communities, who kept them clean. But, once these structures began to be managed by the Public Works Department (PWD), the story has been different. If you don’t desilt irrigation tanks, ponds and rivers regularly, even after a brief spell of rain, these structures will overflow and hence, get wasted,” he said. 

Dr Sekar also pointed out that efforts are not taken at the right time to desilt these structures. “The Chembarambakkam Lake was much spoken about but a part of it is almost dry. We failed to save water from the rains during December 2015. Structures like irrigation tanks and ponds are designed to tide over drought years. But we don’t maintain these structures well, hence, we are in such a bad shape,” he concluded.