Hopes too drying up in parched Chennai
Chennai and its expanding suburbs are one of the thirstiest troughs among the areas that have been reeling under the worst water crisis this year. The city had boasted of 60 water bodies in 1893 that have since shrunk or even disappeared to the extent that the number today is just 28.
The city has consistently been wilting under the pressure of concretisation with rapid landfills and siphoning off of wetlands and marshlands. The December 2015 deluge had sent sharp warning signals, only to be forgotten soon after. The floods receded and the concretisation of the city came back with more high-rises promising amenities like swimming pools and private jacuzzis.
Chennai depends solely on the whims of the monsoons. The groundwater has severely been depleted thanks to overdrawing of metro water tankers. The monstrous tanker tubes sink into Veeranam, Red Hills, Chembarambakkam and Sholavaram lakes and the Poondi reservoir. They also draw water from desalination plants at Nemmeli and Minjur. These sources are the lifeline for the 10.3 million people of this city.
Today, the city residents, especially the less privileged ones, are thirsty, and very angry. The only colour that dots parched city roads are the long line of colourful plastic pots fiercely guarded by protesting residents waiting for their quota of rationed water. Their demand is simple: regular water supply. Is it too much to ask?
But the conversation on conservation is triggered only when there is a crisis. Once a drizzle dilutes the summer heat, we conveniently forget about it.
It needs to be drilled into the psyche that access to running tap water is a privilege that cannot be abused.
In case of an external regulation, instead of a routine water tax, it will be a good idea to install water meters in houses. This will involve costs and logistics, but will pave the way for the sharing of the most precious resource, at least a fraction of it, if not equitably. Denial of water is a human rights issue, after all.