Water Supply

Chennai’s water security has been a hotly debated issue, ever since the city saw alternating incidents of devastating drought and destructive floods over the last five years. The floods were the result of thoughtless urbanisation while the drought came about due to the city’s poor adoption of water conservation. An answer to the conundrums surrounding water in Chennai may well lie in turning towards nature-based solutions, according to the proposals put forth by a promising initiative titled City of 1000 Tanks. City of 1000 Tanks is a multi-stakeholder effort, including the Corporation of Chennai and 100 Resilient Cities, that involves…

As the rejuvenation of Bellandur and Varthur lakes is underway, the NGO Bangalore Environment Trust (BET) has written an open letter to the state government, requesting course correction. The expert committee on lake rejuvenation had recommended that both the lakes be desilted, but BET's letter points out that it'd take 53 years to remove the toxic silt-cum-slush in Bellandur lakebed, and 20 years for Varthur lakebed! This is because toxic waste has flown into the two lakes, unimpeded, for the last 50 years. BET's calculations are based on a recent study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). More importantly, the…

This article is part of our special series on Delhi Elections 2020 Round the clock supply of clean drinking water and continuation of the free 20,000 litres per month water consumption per household that is currently in place, comes second (only after Jagmag Delhi -- subsidy on power bills) in Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal’s list of 10 “Guarantees” to the people of Delhi if they return him to power. Supplying free water, especially to areas that had no water supply, was one of AAP’s key promises when the party made its foray into electoral politics.…

In view of the severe water crisis that gripped Chennai in 2019, the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (CMWSSB or Metro Water, in short) has unveiled a set of goals for 2020, which if met could help make the city water secure. The agency plans to extend its services to the underserved and unserved areas in the city this year, and ensure the following: 1. Reuse of Waste Water In order to meet the growing water needs of the city, Metro Water plans to expand the number of wastewater treatment facilities in Chennai. The city has seen two…

Chennai found itself in the grip of an acute water crisis last summer. The city saw a deficit monsoon the previous year and the reservoirs had all but run dry. Thus began a period of acute hardship for Chennaiites that lasted months. Long queues for tanker lorries across neighbourhoods became a common sight. Families survived on a mere three pots of water a day and women bore the brunt of the crisis, having to forego time at work or school to gather water. The crisis was however not without warning. Signs of scarcity had been looming for a while, but little…

Urban growth and expansion of cities is increasing the demand for land and water, increasing pressure on resources available not only in urban, but also in peri-urban areas. State policies often use peri-urban spaces and resources to meet the needs of urban populations; for instance, they use grazing lands for urban infrastructure, sewerage and water treatment plants or for special economic zones. Water is another resource that continues to be scarce in urban areas because of the growing population and competing domestic and industrial water needs. Public infrastructure and utility services are unable to keep pace with the growing water…

Pune’s No 1 ranking in the Ease of Living index contrasts sharply with ground realities, especially when one considers the most basic requirement of all, water. Despite recording one of its heaviest rainfalls this season (561.8 mm, according to Dr Anupam Kashyapi, Head, Weather & Air Pollution Monitoring Unit, India Meteorological Department), and the district’s four dams -- Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon, and Temghar -- being nearly full, the city is facing a shortage of water and inequitable supply. “In our area, we have seen flooding in some societies while we queue up for drinking water”, said a distraught Arvind Vichare…

For months now, various studies and reports have talked about the high level of water stress across Indian cities. The alarm bells reached a crescendo when Chennai ran out of water recently, and media ran multiple reports on India's looming urban water crisis. Many solutions have been proposed but the most fundamental—the need to price water as an economic good—is rarely investigated.  Water is invaluable; none of us can live without it. And so, historically, we've thought nothing about how we use it. Government after government, with a monopoly over the supply of water, has tried to control water supply.…

Meghalaya has always prided itself on its pure water flowing from the crystal clear mountain streams and springs amidst pristine forests. But over the past three years, the state’s Public Health Engineering (PHE) department has been receiving numerous complaints about the poor quality of the water being supplied to homes. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and an “Own Motion” by the Meghalaya High Court (MHC), point to the urgency of the matter. The problem is that rivers are being polluted by unchecked sand mining, quarrying, rapid urbanization and other “developmental’ activities in the ecologically sensitive regions of this hilly state,…

Multi-storied apartments are everywhere, dotting the skyline in our cities. Ground plus 19 is the norm rather than the exception. As apartment dwellers everywhere are finding out this summer, water is a major challenge to manage, with the city running scarce to supply this resource. If you are a new buyer, it would be wise to ask the following questions from the builder before you make that investment of a crore or more. This is a simple checklist: What are the sources of water for the flat especially in summer? Bore wells are simply unable to supply water when densities…