Chennai is facing an unprecedented drought not seen in decades. What kind of solutions do you suggest for checking the water crisis in Chennai?

The aspirations of Chennai to become a global economic hub have been badly thwarted as it is pushed into an unprecedented struggle to find water. The shadows of the drought of 2018 have affected the 2019 summer as well. The major reservoirs which supplied water to the city have dried up. The conditions are going from bad to worse as the residents are forced to hunt for water by spending hours at night waiting for water trucks. Chennai usually gets between 1300mm to 1400mm rainfall in a year. The residents are being forced to live on minimum piped water and very fewer tanker supplies which total a third of the installed capacity of 1494 million litres per day.

• There is an apparent neglect of water governance by successive governments.
• The city needs a time-bound plan for augmenting the resources of Greater Chennai region. Careful rainfall management can be helpful in times of weak monsoons.
• Chennai has over 4000 water bodies. There is an urgent need of complete assessment of these wetlands and their storage capacity.
• Monetary incentives can be given to various NGOs as mentioned in the Water Index Report of the NITI Aayog. It encourages them to install various systems which show measurable outcomes.

At the same time, even the people should be instructed and encouraged to significantly bring down any kind of wastage.

Topics: GS-III: Disaster and Disaster Management