KOCHI: With a daily average consumption of 3,000 litres, Malayalees are the biggest consumers of water at the national level, according to hydrologists. This was revealed in a presentation made by C M Sushanth, a scientist at the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, at a seminar on ‘The Awareness of Water Resources Management’ at the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) here on Wednesday. According to him, this includes both direct and indirect consumption of water.
“A Malayali indirectly consumes 100 times more water than what he consumes directly because it is a consumerist society. Moreover, the eating habits of the community have an impact on the higher rate of water consumption. When one kilogram of rice is brought to Kerala from Andhra Pradesh or Telangana, it amounts to 10,000 litres of water. One kg of meat needs 1,000 times more water to produce than producing one kg of vegetable,” said Sushanth.
The seminar by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology & Environment(KSCSTE) and Kerala Forest Research Centre was held in the lead-up to the 30th Kerala Science Congress scheduled for this month-end in Thalassery. C N Ravishankar, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) director inaugurated the seminar while B M Sherin, KSCSTE member underscored the importance of the Kerala Science Congress. K Gopakumar, Kufos eminence professor and former deputy director of Indian Council Of Agriculture Research(ICAR); T V Shankar, Kufos director of research and V M Victor George, registrar addressed the gathering.