Water position in Chennai manageable despite COVID-19, summer, says Metro Water

Chennai, Apr 18 () An increased awareness onwashing hands in these times of COVID-19 and the frighteningmemories of the 2019 water crisis in the city notwithstanding,water managers are confident this summer can be seen offsmoothly, thanks to a decent northeast monsoon and othersources.

This year, there may not be a water shortage in thecity in the coming months too, thanks to the northeast monsoonin 2019 and the release of Krishna water from neighbouringAndhra Pradesh.

Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board(CMWSSB), which struggled to meet residents' demand lastsummer in the face of a deficit 2018 northeast monsoon, saidthe water position is "manageable" now.

The four reservoirs supplying drinking water to thecity -Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam- havea combined storage of 6,086 million cubic feet (mcft) as onApril 18, as against the 486 mcft during the correspondingperiod last year.

The combined full capacity is 11,257 mcft.

"The lockdown is not for us. We have to carry out ourjobs to ensure safe and adequate water to every household inthe city, especially at this time of pandemic when everyone iswashing hands regularly and are concerned about their hygienemore than ever before," Prabhushankar T Gunalan, ExecutiveDirector, CMWSSB, said.

Following all precautions vis-a-vis COVID19, the boardis not only ensuring safety of its own employees, but alsoputting in place an effective crowd management system whentankers reach localities to distribute water to people.

"At the CMWSSB office premises, the officials arewearing masks and using PPEs. We have also equipped the peopleinvolved in sanitation work with proper safety gear," hesaid.

"We are taking strict measures to make people stand inqueues to get their daily supply of water. Also, we areensuring that social distancing is being followed," he added.

The city managers are "water positive and in amanageable position for at least next two years," he said.

Many projects are on, including desilting of waterbodies by the Greater Chennai Corporation, even as the CMWSSBwas working on groundwater use management.

"We have a very good rainwater harvesting system inplace. And, in coming years Chennai will be in a much betterposition," Prabhushankar said.

The CMWSSB is working on an 'ultra filtration projectin which the lakes will be filled with tertiary treated waterand then the water will be used for various other purposes.

As per official estimates, in the next 4-5 years,Chennai will no longer be dependent on monsoon for waterneeds, if the plans to augment the water resources work.

Year 2019 turned out to be an unforgettable one forcity residents, as the earlier deficit northeast monsoonrendered the reservoirs dry while depleting water tablesdid no help, even as the issue caught international attention.

The government, under the smart city mission, isinstalling automated meter reading (AMR) meters to keep acheck on water consumption and water wastage.

"About 13,000 commercial establishments have beenprovided with the new meters. We will further extend theinstallation process by covering domestic establishments aswell," he added.

Post COVID-19, the CMWSSB will take up door-to-doorsurvey to collect a database of water consumption and willcarry out water audits, to keep in check the demand and supplygap and also the quality of the water and whether theresources are being exploited.

The northeast monsoon season officially ended onDecember 31, 2019, but Tamil Nadu experienced its residualeffects through the first week of 2020.

The northeast monsoon brings bulk of the state'srainfall and Tamil Nadu received 453.2 mm rainfall betweenOctober 1 and December 31 last year, which is slightly morethan the 447.4 mm average. CORR SA SS