Kerala is famous for its many lakes, backwaters and the 44 rivers that crisscross its terrain but senseless sand-mining, quarrying and a severe drought brought about partially by climate change have created a situation where drinking water has become a scarce commodity for millions of people.
State-run Kerala Water Authority, the sole agency for anything and everything related to drinking water distribution, has observed that water supply may soon come to a standstill in five of the State’s total 14 districts. According to the authority, drinking water supply will have to be stopped altogether in these five districts if sufficient summer rains do not occur.
At a review meeting held at Thiruvananthapuram the other day, officials of the Kerala Water Authority observed that drinking water distribution schemes would have to be shut down in Kasaragod, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Palakkad and Kollam districts unless there were sufficient summer rains.
The regions facing the severest drinking water crisis are those where distribution schemes have been dependent on rivers for sourcing water. This is directly related to the senseless sand-mining that has led to the deepening of the river-beds pushing groundwater table further down and the current drought situation.
Kerala is experiencing the worst drought in the past 16 years and this has already led to a huge power crisis with the water levels in hydel reservoirs dipping sharply necessitating a minimum of two-hour load-shedding per day. Power Minister Aryadan Muhammad has already warned that the situation is so bad that the State may have to implement six-hour load-shedding per day.
“That there is a severe drought in the State is undeniable. But that is not the sole reason for the current drinking water crisis,” says hydrologist Anil Kumar. “This is a man-made disaster. This is the result of the craze for senseless development for which we killed all our water sources like rivers and lakes by mining sand rampantly,” he said. “For example, Palakkad district, blessed with Bharathapuzha, the broadest river in Kerala, is not supposed to have drinking water crisis ever. But Bharathapuzha is already dead with its sandy bed dipping by at least 12 feet due to the sand-mining carried out rampantly by the Government and the sand mafia. That is how we have killed our water sources,” Anil Kumar pointed out.
River Bharathapuzha had dried up totally even before summer peaked this year and the several check dams constructed in its course have thus become useless. About 30 panchayats depend on this river for drinking water and distribution schemes in these areas have been seriously affected, according to reports.
The irony is that the districts affected by drought this year are those known for their many rivers and lakes. Even officials of the Water Resources Department agree that the water shortage presently being faced by people of Kollam district is caused by the damage done to the Sasthamkotta lake, the largest natural fresh water reservoir in Kerala.
Acute drinking water scarcity is being reported from the border areas and coastal region of Thiruvananthapuram district also. Drinking water supply has reportedly been suspended completely at Neyyattinkara and Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram district but Water Authority officials refused to confirm this.
Environmentalists blame the development policies of successive Governments and projects of the past two decades that have “killed” the main rivers in the State and caused huge damage to the entire eco-system including the paddy farms, wetlands and hills and mountains of the Western Ghats for the current drinking water crisis.
