CHENNAI : The water crisis in the city is dampening the festive mood ahead of the Tamil New Year celebrations on April 14. While it is a time for new beginnings, people are worried about the days ahead as the water condition is expected to worsen this summer. “We generally have grand plans to celebrate the New Year. But this time, we are keeping it very low-key.
The water problem is worsening with every passing day and we are really worried about what the situation is going to become over the next few months. There is no reason to celebrate this time around because not only is everything becoming expensive, we are also having to spend extravagantly for basic necessities,” says R Pavithra, a homemaker who stays in Palavakkam. For K Senthuran, a class 7 student, his mother, K Jayashree’s homecooked feast was all that he looked forward to. It would be a lavish spread of mouth-watering dishes. However, this year, the number of dishes on the menu has gone down.
“I can’t afford to make that many dishes because of the water crunch,” rues Jayashree who stays in OMR. “I have to ration water in the house now because we need enough to cook, clean the utensils and for general use as well. It does not make sense to use litres of water to cook and clean when there is not enough water to clean the house.
I feel bad that I have to do this, but I have no other choice.” Families living in densely populated settlements in the city, which are facing water shortage are looking at other ways of celebrating the New Year to ensure there is no water wastage. “We will go to the temple in the morning and eat outside too. There is a shortage of water in our building and I don’t want to waste water to cook or clean,” says S Nandakumari, a homemaker.