Understanding the problem

On 19 June 2019, Chennai State ran out of water and its official declared that “Day Zero” where there was no
water resource left to be supplied to its people.

What were the causes to Water Crisis (Day Zero)?

1. Failed Monsoons and Heatwaves
Chennai was always dependent on its annual
monsoons to replenish its reservoirs.
Consecutive years of failed monsoon with a
major heatwave on May 2019 to June 2019
further led to evaporating the left-over water
from the reserve.
2. Polluted Rivers
The Tamil Nadu government sanctioned 50
crore for 337 sewage filtration system at
more than 50 locations to reduce the pollutants
in the rivers (Adyar, kosasthalaiyar, Arani,
Adyar).
3. Dried Reservoirs
The Four reservoirs (Cholavaram, Chembarambakkam, Poondi and Red Hills) had a combined capacity of 11,057
mc ft which was flooded due to the 2015-2016 floods, had ran out of the water in 2019. Leaving the reservoirs dried
up.
4. Government Mismanagement and Poor Administration
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) quoted that the projects initiated to restore and increase the
storage capacity of tanks and reservoirs suffered a setback because of faulty planning and lack of
coordination between government agencies.
The Madras High Court slammed the Tamil Nadu State Government for mismanagement of water
resources.
5. Overexploitation of ground water resources
Over 66% of the households have their own private wells and tankers. CMWSSB suppliers extract
groundwater from the peripheries of Chennai. Hereafter, overexploiting the groundwater at almost twice
the annual recharge.

Impact of the Water Crisis

 The four reservoirs have dried up
comprehensively.
 The Hotel industry has majorly been affected,
40% of the business is abandoned. New
Entrepreneurs do not wish to enter.
 Private and CMWSSB suppliers extract
ground water from the peripheries of Chennai at
twice the rate of their annual recharge.
 Water requirement of Chennai is 830 million
litres every day. The government is only able to
provide for 530 million litres. Hereby resulting in
conflicts.
Measure and Initiatives taken by the Tamil Nadu Government
1. The Tamil Nadu government is supplying an additional 2,400 Million Liters Daily (MLD). Added as
against 450 MLD of water supplied during that period, the government is now supplying 520 MLD.
Government is charging water tax from all its resident. Only the people below the poverty line
receive water. Since, the rich can afford the private tankers

2. The chief minister of Tamil Nadu has sanctioned INR 212 Crores for the construction of deep
earth borewells to pull out groundwater from farmlands.
 This is further accompanied by a campaign called Back to Earth- Break the concrete and let
every drop reach the groundwater. The size of the existing Storm water wells has also increased.
 This is a short-term solution, where groundwater is being pulled out from the outskirts of
Chennai and then transported into the city through CMWSSB suppliers. Today the ground
water is being exploited at twice the recharge.
3. The government implemented the Kudimaramath Scheme enforcing in 29 districts of the state at
499.68 crore for the current fiscal year. The Scheme is a traditional way of restoring water bodies
and to strengthen the tank bud, desilting of supply chain, reconstruction of sluices, weirs, repair and
renewal of shutters, rehabilitation and desilting of canals.

4. The member of parliaments are requested to spend money from their MPLAD (Members of
Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) on water conservation projects in their constituencies
and areas.

5. Studies on water crisis is to be added in school curriculum to make students aware about the issue.
The government will be promoting micro irrigation, drip irrigation techniques as done in
countries like Israel, which receive less rains.

6. To tackle the ongoing water crisis, the state government has assigned monitoring teams at the
zonal level in Chennai. The team consists of one superintending engineer and one executive
engineer for each of the 15 zones. Their activities on the project will be monitored throug h a
mobile application called Kaizal App.

7. With the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme. The
supply of water is being carried out at the cost of Rs 6,496 crore and 500 MLD to Chennai until
next monsoon.
8. A group of engineers in Tamil Nadu have developed nozzles that help cut down wastage of water
by 95 % in Chennai. It reduces water flow on taps from 12 liters a minute to 600 ml , saving at least
35 liters of water in 24 hours.

9. The state has implemented the first 50-wagon train carrying water to the city with 2.5 million
liters of water. The Chennai Metro Water has set a target of ferrying 10 million liters a day.
Suggestions to improve the situation in Tamil Nadu
Suggestions could be best given when a situation and its solutions are compared with some other country which
has sailed through the same boat.

Urban Water Planning

Tamil Nadu has not yet invested in Smart Tec Reserves. As a
result, climate change played a huge role for the crisis in Tamil
Nadu. For Example- Singapore is rated as the highest water stress
ranking country with no freshwater lakes, aquifers and Urban
marshland. With the investment in advance rainwater capture and
agreements with its neighboring countries. Singapore has managed
its water well. Singapore generates 30% of its water supply from
rainwater capture, 20% from desalination, 40% is imported from
Malaysia, 10% is reused water.

Recycling Water and rainwater harvesting

Tamil Nadu is the pioneer in India for recycling water and rainwater
harvesting. The Tamil Nadu government has invested lakhs to set up two rainwater harvesting plants. The state
should invest on more like wise projects and concentrate on recycling water. So, that the recycled water could be
used for agriculture, washing and other secondary purposes.

Desalination
Tamil Nadu has adapted Desalination. With more plants and its
location right next to the biggest sea It can easily generate
about 20% of its fresh water from desalination just the way
Singapore does. But, Desalination still remains an expensive
affair for the Tamil Nadu Government.

Linking Rivers
Ministry of Water Resources plans on transporting water from
rivers which has excess water to Chennai . Transportation of
water has been successful in the past. Although, it is yet to be
implemented by the government. It is a short-term solution to
the problem but with this we would be able to to satisfy the
fundamental needs of our people. The same concept was
adapted in Netherlands known as “Room for the River”.

Educating and Awareness

Topics such as use of water, water is life, water scarcity should be added to the curriculum for children and such
discussions are still taking place at the higher authorities. Campaigns must be organized by the government to
spread awareness among the people of Tamil Nadu to save water and develop water saving culture like Cape Town,
South Africa. There is a proper culture in South Africa where the residents are not allowed to wash their cars with
fresh water. The police can arrest residents it they use fresh water for anything else rather than preparing food and
drinking water. Many Non Governmental Organisations in Tamil Nadu have started awareness programs inculcating
good freshwater habits.

Management Boards to control the use of water

For regulating the supply, demand, and maintenance of water and decentralizing local teams to track the use of
water. So that water could be used with the most efficiency. And, this would also help keep a track on the ground
water being used by the local residents and would help replenish the ground water quickly.