Editorial: Making every drop count

The sight of serpentine queues formed outside homes where harried homemakers jostle to fill up their containers with the water supplied by water tankers is commonplace during this season. Chennai happens to be India’s sixth-largest city and gets an average rainfall of about 1,400 mm or 55 inches annually. And despite that, it became one of the first cities globally to run out of water two years ago. Eventually, truckers had to haul in 10 million litres of water a day to ensure the population got its supply of the elixir of life.

The State and its citizens are all-too-aware of the consequences of limited water supply during this season, and it’s probably why the discourse over rainwater harvesting has gained momentum over the past few days. Earlier this week, the TN government informed the Madras High Court that following the latter’s instructions, an eight-member expert panel is being constituted to draw up tentative plans to augment the groundwater level by tapping into the massive quantum of rainwater before it ends up in the sea. Rainwater harvesting is one of the key objectives of this programme to recharge the groundwater for perennial use.

One might recall that it was as a consequence of a landmark ordinance pertaining to rainwater harvesting in TN, undertaken by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s government in 2003, that it was mandated that all buildings in the state fix rainwater harvesting structures on priority for water storage. The drought years from 2001 to 2003, which hit TN significantly was a catalyst for this decision, which was being seen as an answer to the state’s water woes. However, just two years ago, the state government found that as many as five lakh buildings in the state had no rainwater harvesting systems.

In Chennai, 2.35 lakh buildings were checked for compliance vis-a-vis the 2003 order, and among these, 1.36 lakh buildings had installed the system, along with about 3,850 new buildings. On a residential scale, such systems cost just about Rs 3,000-4,000 to install and the CMDA had stipulated that it will only provide a building completion certificate if the said property had a rainwater harvesting system. This year, the cause of water conservation was picked up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi too, who in February, called for a 100-day campaign aimed at cleaning up water bodies and preparing them for rainwater harvesting before the monsoons.

There are reasons for Tamil Nadu to be concerned about the future of its water supply. As per the state’s climate change action plan, in about eight decades from now, the annual average temperature is set to rise by 3.1 degree Celsius over 1970-2000 levels. To add to our troubles, annual rainfall is supposed to dip by as much as 9 per cent. Chennai is working on a war footing, keeping in mind short term contingencies. The Greater Chennai Corporation is now facilitating an initiative called the City of 1,000 Tanks. Aided by Netherlands and AIIB, the programme seeks to embark on temple tank restorations and building new tanks to recharge the groundwater for future usage during the dry season.

Going forth, the state will have to account for the vagaries of climate change and the existing poor planning of urban dwellings when charting out plans to improve our water sufficiency. The need for desalination plants might not be as pronounced here in Chennai as compared to arid regions globally. However, what we can control and to an extent change is our preparedness and response when it comes to the scorching hot summers. Essentially, both citizens and the government must make every drop matter.