- By Abhinav Gupta
- Wed, 19 Jun 2019 12:22 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Chennai | Jagran News Desk: Tamil Nadu, especially its capital Chennai, is facing one of the worst water crisis in the last several years as extended summers and scanty rainfall have forced most of the reservoirs in the state reach their lowest levels.
The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday said that it was largely dependent on ground water to meet the requirements till the onset of north east monsoon in October.
Chief Minister E Palaniswami said drought and deficient monsoon had resulted in depletion of groundwater levels, but claimed the issue was not as big as was being made out, especially in the media.
People should also understand the situation and cooperate, the chief minister, said and urged the media to not to create an "illusion" of water scarcity.
The acute water shortage has hit IT companies, major businesses, residential apartments as well as schools of the city.
Palaniswami said though lakes feeding Chennai have dried up, steps were being taken to ensure supply of drinking water, with efforts to augment it from Veeranam lake in Cuddalore district.
The Chennai Metro Water is supplying 525 million litres of water in the city against the required 800 million litres every day. This has forced residents to depend on private water tankers, which -- already expensive -- have doubled their prices.
IT companies are looking at ways to deal with the situation, from asking employees to work from home to reducing the number of bathrooms in offices.
In one of the worst years, Chennai and its neighbourhoods have been witnessing an extended summer after a deficient northeast monsoon in 2018, leading to depleted groundwater levels.
The groundwater in Chennai and its surrounding areas is replenished by five lakes -- Puzhal, Sholavaram, Kaliveli, Pulicat and Maduranthakam -- all located within a 60-km radius of the city.
Coming down heavily on encroachments on water bodies, the Madras High Court on Tuesday sought a detailed report about number of lakes and reservoirs in Tamil Nadu besides steps taken for desilting. "True that there is failure of monsoon for quite some time now. We have seen rules framed by the government for rain water harvesting... steps to have been taken for desilting four tanks in Chennai and the availability of water for supply to public in Chennai," the court said.
On the other hand, the state government has categorically denied reports of drinking water shortage in Chennai. On Monday, Rural and Muncipal Administration Minister S P Velumani stated that the government system is capable to maintain adequate supply of water for Chennai till November, and termed reports of IT professionals being asked to work from home en masse in several firms reportedly due to water crisis a “manufactured” news.
