Water Supply Minister SP Velumani speaks about water Scarcity
Municipal Administration and Water Supply Minister S.P. Velumani on Monday alleged that misleading information on drinking water supply was being disseminated, creating a scare among residents.
Participating in a review meeting on water supply in local bodies across the State on Monday, Mr. Velumani said work on supplying drinking water started on a war-footing at an estimated cost of 625 crore in all the urban and rural local bodies in the State.
The supply is being augmented by digging borewells and supplying water by tanker lorries, he said.
However, the quantity of drinking water supplied to residents of all urban and rural local bodies in the State has reduced to 7,300 million litres a day (MLD) owing to extremely poor storage in reservoirs, the Minister pointed out.
Mr. Velumani stressed the need for creating awareness among residents about water conservation. He warned that action will be taken against officials who fail to respond to complaints pertaining to water supply in residential areas. Residents are requested to call 044-45674567 to report water scarcity. Mr. Velumani directed officials in other areas of the State to provide toll-free number to residents to report scarcity. “Committees to monitor the water supply in residential areas have been formed in all the zones of the city,” said Mr. Velumani.
Kaizal App has been developed for officials to inspect localities across the city and resolve issues on water supply, he said. IAS officers will start visiting all zones of Chennai at 6 a.m. every day to resolve issues relating to water scarcity.
“Projects to augment water supply across the State are being implemented at a cost of 15,838 crore in the past three years,” said Mr. Velumani. Chennai Metrowater has been implementing work at 4,098 locations at a cost of 2,638 crore and TWAD Board has taken up work on water supply at 268 locations at a cost 5,346 crore. Urban local bodies have taken up work in 6,834 locations at a cost of 4,409 crore and rural local bodies have taken up work at 1.08 lakh locations at a cost of 1,929 crore. Work on 18 major water supply projects have been taken up in urban local bodies at a cost of ₹6,496 crore, he added.
“The storage in the four reservoirs of Chennai has reduced to 26 million cubic feet. A total of 543 million cubic feet water is being supplied from the Veeranam tank to Chennai. It was 2,542 million cubic feet on the same day the previous year,” said Mr. Velumani.
Initiatives have been taken to ensure supply of 525 mld to residents of Chennai till November, he said. “Industrial supply of 40 MLD has been reduced to augment drinking water supply for Chennai residents,” he said.
