A solution to the water crisis lies within the State itself. IIT Madras has developed a process to purify sewage water with nano technology. And it’s cost-effective
The images of Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi, the newly-elected Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) members of the Lok Sabha, leading a protest march in Chennai the other day against the Tamil Nadu Government for its “indifference” to water scarcity evoked laughter instead of sympathy. For Maran, whom DMK leaders themselves describe as the “Amul baby” of the party, this was his first outing as a protester. In his previous avatar as an MP (2004-2013), he was a Union Cabinet Minister, wielding enormous power for almost eight years and Tamil Nadu is yet to hear any of his adventures to resolve the water problem. His aunt, Kanimozhi, was a Rajya Sabha leader for 12 years before she was elected to the Lok Sabha this General Election. The DMK itself was part of the Union Government (almost uninterrupted) from 1996 to 2014 and is yet to come up with any progress card for its achievements.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which has been ruling the State since 2011, too, cannot escape charges of complacency and indifference to the water crisis that is haunting Tamil Nadu. All politicians know well that it is a rain-deficient State and it has no major rivers of its own except Thamirabarani. The only major river flowing through Tamil Nadu is Kaveri (Cauvery), a river originating at Tala Kaveri in the Western Ghats in Karnataka and flowing through Tamil Nadu and Puducherry before merging with the Bay of Bengal. If the southwest monsoon fails, it is certain that there won’t be any water in this river, which is known to be the lifeline of the southern State. The dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for a few more thousand million cubic feet (TMCft) of water is about 50 years old. A case pertaining to this matter is with the Supreme Court and it is a never-ending legal saga.
Farming operations in Tamil Nadu depend on the northeast monsoon (October-December). Tamil Nadu does not get much rain from the southwest monsoon (June-September) and is dependent on Kerala and Karnataka — the main catchment areas of this edition of the weather cycle. If the southwest monsoon fails to bring rain in Kerala and Karnataka, normal life in Tamil Nadu loses its rhythm. The State is outside the rain shadow area and only if the rain gods are generous will it get its due share of water. Political leaders did not see the writing on the wall and failed to take corrective measures. They were dependent on the Centre to push Karnataka to release water from Kaveri.
Another aberration was the Mullaperiyar Dam, which is owned by Tamil Nadu but situated in Kerala. Now, the neighbouring State wants to construct a new dam in place of the 150-year-old one, citing longevity and safety issues. A committee appointed by the Supreme Court, that included KT Thomas, a retired judge of the apex court, found the dam to be safe and strong. But authorities in Kerala are not convinced and the dispute continues.
Tamil Nadu is having another battlefront with Andhra Pradesh as the latter is constructing a series of check dams across Palar River. Tamil Nadu is apprehensive that the check dams would deny it water from Palar, though the quantity is less.
Over the years, successive Governments in Tamil Nadu — be it from the AIADMK or the DMK — have failed to chalk out a permanent solution to this recurring water scarcity. Both the AIADMK and the DMK failed to push the Centre to take steps to divert the surplus water from Hemavathi and Nethravati in Karnataka to Kaveri, which are otherwise discharged into the Arabian Sea.
Hydrologists like Prof PM Natarajan found out that 1,000 TMC ft of water from Godavari is discharged into the Bay of Bengal every year. If a part of this water is diverted to Tamil Nadu, inter-linking the peninsular Indian rivers, water woes of the State could be solved for once and forever.
“It is a win-win situation for both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The surplus water from Hemavathi and Nethravati could replenish Kaveri, which flows through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Farmers in both States stand to benefit with this link,” said Prof Natarajan and G Kishore Babu, editor, World Focus, who has studied this topic for almost two decades now.
The other day, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was heard saying in the Lok Sabha that inter-liking of rivers is not viable and is doomed to fail. He belittled Sir Arthur Cotton, the person who conceived the idea of linking the major rivers in the country, so that the surplus flood water of north Indian rivers could be shifted to the water-deficit rivers of south India. The National Water Development Agency (NWDA), under the Ministry of Water Resources, has prepared a great detailed project report about the inter-linking of rivers. Chowdhury may not be aware of the fact that the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA had assured the people of the country that it would initiate steps to inter-link the peninsular Indian rivers. (Page 13, National Common Minimum Programme of the Government of India, May 2004).
The Department of Atomic Energy has designed desalination plants, which use the reverse osmosis technology to convert sea water into pure drinking water. This is not a costly technology as made out by a section of environmentalists. Those, who doubt the feasibility of the RO technology, should come to Kalakkam near Chennai, where the Atomic Energy Commission operates desalination plants at an unbelievably low cost. These plants supply the entire water required by the Madras Atomic Power Stations, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Energy (IGCAR) and the residential township housing the entire staff of Kalpakkam establishment.
During the last 22 years, one has not seen any political party in Tamil Nadu pass any unanimous resolution in the legislative Assembly, asking the Centre to speed up the inter-linking of rivers. Yet another proof of official apathy is the Tamil Nadu Government’s failure to execute the works of a canal connecting Chennai with Srisailam Dam in Andhra Pradesh, which would have addressed the water shortage faced by the capital city. As per an agreement worked out by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the three riparian States of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were to contribute five TMC ft of water each to Tamil Nadu, which the latter could draw from the Srisailam Dam.
The three Chief Ministers signed agreements too. The task of constructing a canal between Chennai and the Srisailam Dam was left to Tamil Nadu. But for reasons known only to the Tamil Nadu Government, it did not show any interest in building the canal and instead dug up a canal to Kandaleru, a stormwater lake in neighbouring Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, which is able to supply just one TMCft of water every year.
The fact is parties lack the political will to solve the water scarcity problem. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, have developed a process using nano-technology to purify sewage water in Cooum River and Buckingham Canal. Prof Sundararama Prabhu, head of the Physics Group of IIT, Madras, had held a demonstration in front of the media and other policy makers way back in 2009. Since it costs only a few hundreds of crores, there are no takers for the technology innovated by Prof Prabhu. The solutions are here, right in Chennai. Fact is, once the problem of water scarcity is solved, our politicians will lose an issue to agitate and demonstrate over. Who cares about the common man?
(The writer is Special Correspondent, The Pioneer)
