Even after two months of declaring all districts except Chennai as drought-hit and with failure of monsoon rains resulting in water bodies not receiving enough water and ground water getting dried, the ADMK regime failed to take precautionary measures to manage drinking water scarcity causing enormous hardship for people, particularly women, said DMK President Kalaignar.
Answering a question on drinking water scarcity in the state on April 7, Kalaignar said the ADMK government had turned deaf ears to the demands of delta farmers for reassessment of crop loss, cancellation of cooperative loans etc., In the meanwhile with the start of summer drinking water scarcity and the failure of the government to take steps to provide sufficient quantity of drinking water, women in various parts had started resorting to stirs with empty pots.
The reservoirs at Poondi, Puzhal, Sholavaram and Chembarambakkam were the sources of drinking water for Chennai city. With the failure of monsoon rains and reduction in arrival of Krishna water, the water level in Poondi reservoir had come down and there was only 406 million cubic feet water in it. Corresponding water storage in Puzhal reservoir was 1796 million cubic feet, Sholavaram 76 million cubic feet and Chembarampakkam 1242 million cubic feet. The four reservoirs together had storage of only 3,520 million cubic feet as against 7,039 million cubic feet during the same period last year. The dailies had been forecasting acute drinking water scarcity in the city with soaring summer heat and drying up of even the low water storage in reservoirs. Still, the ADMK rulers did not seem to take required action to meet the contingency.
The scarcity of drinking water was extending to all parts of the state. There was scarcity in Valparai area with no water flow to its source Akkamalai. With most of the dams in Nilgris districts drying up, severe drinking water scarcity had driven people to protest actions. Womenfolk of Tirupur complain that they were not getting even brackish water and had to cycle four km to fetch water, throwing the day to day life of their families out of gear. In Dindigul drinking water was supplied only once in ten days. As Vaigai river and lakes had dried, underground water table had also gone down, Madurai district is worst affected for drinking water. With wells of combined drinking water project had also dried up, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Sivaganga and Virudhunagar districts also faced drinking water shortage. As monsoon rains failed and lakes including Veeranam dried up and underground water table going down, drinking water scarcity in Cuddalore district had become acute. The present water storage in Mettur dam till the onset of monsoon in June was insufficient for drinking water supply to eleven districts including Salem.
Referring to the arrest of 51 fishermen by Sri Lankan naval forces, Kalaignar said there was a rise in the number of incidents where fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by Sri lankan navy. “It is distressing to note that the Centre, which acted with speed and gusto when two fishermen from Kerala were attacked, is going easy on the Sri Lankan Navy, which is inflicting untold misery on Tamil Nadu’s fishermen. He said there was nothing wrong in assuming that the Centre would not discriminate against the State’s fishermen and demanding that TN Chief Minister Jayalalitha take a cue from her Kerala counterpart Oommen Chandy in taking immediate steps to ensure the safety of the State’s fishermen.
Answering a question on drinking water scarcity in the state on April 7, Kalaignar said the ADMK government had turned deaf ears to the demands of delta farmers for reassessment of crop loss, cancellation of cooperative loans etc., In the meanwhile with the start of summer drinking water scarcity and the failure of the government to take steps to provide sufficient quantity of drinking water, women in various parts had started resorting to stirs with empty pots.
The reservoirs at Poondi, Puzhal, Sholavaram and Chembarambakkam were the sources of drinking water for Chennai city. With the failure of monsoon rains and reduction in arrival of Krishna water, the water level in Poondi reservoir had come down and there was only 406 million cubic feet water in it. Corresponding water storage in Puzhal reservoir was 1796 million cubic feet, Sholavaram 76 million cubic feet and Chembarampakkam 1242 million cubic feet. The four reservoirs together had storage of only 3,520 million cubic feet as against 7,039 million cubic feet during the same period last year. The dailies had been forecasting acute drinking water scarcity in the city with soaring summer heat and drying up of even the low water storage in reservoirs. Still, the ADMK rulers did not seem to take required action to meet the contingency.
The scarcity of drinking water was extending to all parts of the state. There was scarcity in Valparai area with no water flow to its source Akkamalai. With most of the dams in Nilgris districts drying up, severe drinking water scarcity had driven people to protest actions. Womenfolk of Tirupur complain that they were not getting even brackish water and had to cycle four km to fetch water, throwing the day to day life of their families out of gear. In Dindigul drinking water was supplied only once in ten days. As Vaigai river and lakes had dried, underground water table had also gone down, Madurai district is worst affected for drinking water. With wells of combined drinking water project had also dried up, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Sivaganga and Virudhunagar districts also faced drinking water shortage. As monsoon rains failed and lakes including Veeranam dried up and underground water table going down, drinking water scarcity in Cuddalore district had become acute. The present water storage in Mettur dam till the onset of monsoon in June was insufficient for drinking water supply to eleven districts including Salem.
Referring to the arrest of 51 fishermen by Sri Lankan naval forces, Kalaignar said there was a rise in the number of incidents where fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by Sri lankan navy. “It is distressing to note that the Centre, which acted with speed and gusto when two fishermen from Kerala were attacked, is going easy on the Sri Lankan Navy, which is inflicting untold misery on Tamil Nadu’s fishermen. He said there was nothing wrong in assuming that the Centre would not discriminate against the State’s fishermen and demanding that TN Chief Minister Jayalalitha take a cue from her Kerala counterpart Oommen Chandy in taking immediate steps to ensure the safety of the State’s fishermen.
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