Chennai is reeling under its worst water crisis in decades.
The crisis calls not for reactive measures but much more systematized solutions to address the water problem in the long run.
What is Chennai’s current water scenario?
Chennai’s four main reservoirs (Cholavaram, Chembarambakkam, Poondi and Red Hills) are nearly empty.
The city has not had rain in nearly 200 days; only over the past few days there has been light rainfall.
Groundwater too has been over extracted.
This year, a tanker (private) of approximately 12,000 litres of water cost Rs. 6,000 in several places (last year, it was Rs. 2,000).
This is almost 7 times the cost of water supplied by Chennai Metro Water.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has announced that 10 MLD (million litres a day) of water will be transported to the city for the next 6 months from Jolarpettai, Vellore district.
The Tamil Nadu government has also accepted Kerala’s offer to provide water.
How effective had rainwater harvesting been?
At the political level, rainwater harvesting (RWH) was initiated in 2000. From 2003 onwards, the government mandated RWH.
This meant that the building plan for new apartments and dwellings included a RWH component, to get Chennai City Corporation’s approval.
The order also mandated that all existing buildings in Tamil Nadu install RWH structures.
16 years from then, it is now found that even most of the government buildings in Chennai do not have a functioning RWH structure.
The Greater Corporation of Chennai has now ordered the inspection of RWH structures, much after the crisis.
What are the shortfalls in the approach?
The scarcity of essential resources such as water not only leads to economic losses but also social unrest.
But the issue with any crisis in India is the fire-fighting strategy that is adopted in response, as opposed to systematized solutions.
These timely arrangements are soon forgotten when things temporarily go back to normal.
In effect, efforts are not taken to deeply ingrain such practices in the system to have a sustainable remedy.
This level of action, especially during the floods, is usually undertaken at the level of the National Disaster Management Authority and the National Disaster Response Force.
Local follow-up measures that are necessary to sustain the results are largely ignored.
E.g. during the floods in Chennai in December 2015, the encroachment of wetlands was the key issue, as the catchment areas got vanished
But even now, three-and-a-half years later, no formal mechanism has been put in place to check whether wetlands are being desilted.
According to a recent NITI Aayog report, 21 Indian cities will run out of groundwater by 2020 if usage continues at the current rate.
But water governance in cities across India has only been ad hoc.
How can water governance be made better?
The Chennai water crisis brings to the fore the need for urban water planning and management boards in metropolitan cities.
This should work as a permanent body similar to urban development authorities.
The objective should be to regulate the supply, demand and maintenance of water services and structures.
This authority should monitor and regulate groundwater in the city.
With exorbitant levels of pricing for water supply by private tankers, this must be regulated too.
The urban water management board should also oversee the desilting of lakes in the city on a regular basis.
The management of lakes comes under the Public Works Department, which works in isolation from Chennai Metro Water.
There has to be proper coordination among these institutional mechanisms for a better integrated water policy.
Deepening of beds of existing lakes is essential for greater water storage and better water percolation.
Additional desalination plants should also be commissioned; this water might help bring down water prices to below 6 paise a litre.
Metro Water and groundwater use should be measured and priced progressively.
Similar to the electricity tariff, the quantity of use should determine the price.
The board can practise differential pricing and cross-subsidise those households with a lower per capita income use of water.
Water meters are a must for this to be implemented effectively.
In existing RWH structures, pipes are either broken or clogged, filtration equipment is not cleaned, bore pits have too much silt, and drains are poorly maintained.
The board must also have regulatory powers to monitor the maintenance of RWH structures at homes and in offices.
Water scarcity has resulted in the IT corridor in Chennai suffering, with most companies even asking employees to work from home.
In contrast, the large manufacturing units around the Sriperumbudur-Oragadam belt have been able to maintain production due to efficient water management practices.
The water boards thus need to work in coordination with governments on granting approvals to new mass working spaces.
IT corridors should be regulated for their water-use necessities.
Besides these, Chennai must also learn from the experiences of other cities across the world such as Cape Town, South Africa.
Here, water saving is being driven through the concepts such as Day Zero, prompting better and more efficient use of water.
[Day zero is when active water rationing will happen; most of the city’s taps will be closed, with strict regulations for use.]
In all, a sustainable governance solution to water crisis along with public participation is the need of the hour.
