TIRUNELVELI: The water levels in all major dams across Tirunelveli, including Papanasam, Manimuthar, Servalar and Vadakku Pachaiyar, are fast depleting in comparison to the past few years, posing a threat of drinking water shortage in the district.
While Manimuthar reservoir stores 2,172 mcft (39.43% of maximum capacity) water at present, the Papanasam reservoir contains only 268 mcft (4.68% of maximum capacity) water. During the same time (March 19) in 2021 and 2022, the Papanasam dam had 69.39% and 31.57% water respectively and Manimuthar dam had 69.21% water and 61.63% water respectively.
According to the records by Distaster Management, the Vadakku Pachaiyar dam, wherein Assembly Speaker M Appavu raised shutters last month for agricultural and drinking water purposes, witnessed no inflow or outflow on Sunday owing to lack of rainfall.
R Pandiaraja, an activist, demanded that the administrations of down south districts should take necessary steps to tackle the possible drinking water shortage. "The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board has been supplying drinking water from wells located on the Thamirabarani riverbed to residents of Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari and Virudhunagar districts through different combined water supply schemes. The shortage of rainfall and soaring mercury have led to the decline of water in the dams and zero outflow of water from them. The riverbeds have also been witnessing groundwater depletion," he said.
When contacted by TNIE, District Collector K P Karthikeyan said his administration has already started taking necessary measures to deal with water shortage. "In this regard, we have conducted two levels of meetings so far, and will soon conduct another one. We faced a similar situation back in 2017. Based on experiences, we have identified places that are prone to water scarcity and have roped in officials to implement initiatives locally to handle the situation and regulate water supply," he said.
He further stated that the officials of the Public Works Department and Rural Development Department have been asked to inspect the drinking water wells in the district. "The TWAD board officials, with the support of historic data obtained from the Disaster Management Department, have been asked to identify the wells which are drying up. We are preparing a plan of action for water scarcity-prone localities like Nanguneri and Radhapuram areas, where we have already identified local drinking water sources. We have also held discussions with the panchayat presidents," he added.
Table
Dams Max capacity in mcft Current water level in mcft
Papanasam 5,500 268 (4.68%)
Manimuthar 5,511 2172 (39.43%)
Servalar 1,225 83 .3 (6.80%)
Vadakku Pachaiyar 442 9.23 (2.09%)
Nambiyaru 82.17 15.57 (18.96%)
Kodumudiyaru 121.84 10.19 (8.37%)