CMWSSB

Long queues of women and men waiting for their turn at the tanker; schools forced to shut down due to water shortage; companies asking employees to work from home and even patients in hospitals bearing the brunt of water  shortage -- these are not scenes from any dystopian novel or movie. This is the reality Chennai is living today. The situation gets worse by the day as the city finds itself in the grip of another spell of widespread and acute water shortage. The scarcity of water has seen the city’s main reservoirs run dry. Borewells are depleted and the…

On World Water Day, conservation is the buzzword. The Internet is flooded with tips on how to conserve water and the need to focus on water as a scarce resource. Many resident welfare associations in Chennai are organising awareness sessions to educate people about water economics. But, ironically perhaps, World Water Day this year has come just a day after Holi, exposing the huge gaps in awareness and responsibility among many sections of the people, still. Just a day ago, the city celebrated Holi in a grand manner, but wasted gallons of water in the process, creating artificial rain. “The…

Reports about a third desalination plant, with a capacity of 550 million litres a day (MLD), have raised hopes among Chennaites. Convinced that their water woes can be successfully addressed with advanced technology, citizens welcome the state government’s proposal of the plant that would make sea water potable. But, are desalination plants really the solution we need? Environmentalists are often deeply critical of pollution caused by desalination plants. But, even if we put aside the concerns around environmental damage  for the present discussion, desalination plants themselves do not appear to be economically viable for the city. An extravagant affair The…

Translated by Krishna Kumar சென்னையில் கோடை காலம் இப்போது தான் ஆரம்பம், ஆனால் இப்போதுள்ள நிலைமையை பார்த்தால் கொடூரமாக இருக்கும் என்று தான் கணிக்க முடியும். சென்னையின் தேவையை பூர்த்தி செய்ய தேவையான 50% தண்ணீர் மட்டும் தான் நம்மிடம் உள்ளது.பல இடங்களில் தண்ணீர் சேவை வாரம் ஒருமுறை மட்டுமே என்று குறைக்க பட்டுள்ளது. நிலத்தடிநீர் நிலைமையோ கடந்த மூன்று வருடத்தில் குறைவாக உள்ளது மற்றும் ஏரி நீர்தேக்கங்கள் அதைவிட மோசமான நிலை. நிலத்தடி நீர் நிலைமை பொதுவாக ஏப்ரல், மே மாதங்களில் உள்ள அளவுக்கு இப்போதே தள்ளப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஜனவரி முதல் வாரத்தில் சென்னை சேர்ந்த 24 கிணறுகளில் எடுத்த கணக்கின்படி நிலத்தடி நீர் நிலை வெகுவாக குறைந்துள்ளது - மூன்று ஆண்டுகளில் இதுதான் மோசம். பெரிய மழை வரும் வாய்ப்பு குறைவு என்பதால் இந்நிலை மேலும் மோசமாகத்தான் போகும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கலாம். குறைந்துவரும் நீர்நிலை மழை மய்யம் (The…

Chennai is expanding at a dizzying pace. The number of residential units being built in the city is escalating every year, and so is the demand for water. The fact that more than 1800 new applications reach the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB)'s head office every month, points to the magnitude of the demand. However, a majority of the applicants, and indeed most citizens, are often confused or oblivious of the procedure to be followed and the documents to be furnished for a quick resolution of their application. As a result, most of them end up making…

Earlier this year, Cape Town acquired the dubious distinction of becoming the first city in the world to face the prospect of forcibly closing off all taps and get its population to get water from 200 collection points across the city. That catastrophe got pushed back somewhat, but Simla was not so lucky. Last month, piped water was no longer feasible, and people lined up at various places to get their share of this precious commodity. A newspaper report has it that Delhi is likely to go dry in 2020. Can Chennai be far behind? Or has the city already…

What is a Master Plan? Many of us complain that Chennai has grown ‘unplanned’. Technically that is not true. Chennai has been having various ‘plans’ guiding the expansion of the city since 1957. The First Master Plan for Chennai was published in 1975. Both the transport terminal and  wholesale market from Central Business District were shifted to the current CMBT and Koyambedu Market as a strategy to decongest the Central Business District then. So the master plan matters. The Second Master Plan was published in 2008 - this plan is a guiding document till 2026, another 8 years from now.…

Where? As the sun  began to descend, the already buzzing Koyambedu market road came alive with more action as hundreds of people assembled at a local hotel for the Sakkadai Thiruvizha, organised by Arappor Iyakkam. The event on April 8th was envisioned as a citizen awareness program to highlight the problem of untreated sewage that is being continuously let out into the city’s water bodies, spelling doom for them as well as for the entire ecosystem. The highlight Officials from Chennai Corporation, PWD and CMWSSB  came together on a single platform to listen to the woes of the people. It…

There has been an uproar in the state, after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on February 16th in the centuries-long water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In the latest, the apex court bench has ordered Karnataka to release 177.25 tmcft water to Tamil Nadu, as opposed to 192 tmcft awarded in the earlier Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. Expectedly, farmers from the districts, where groundwater is already running low, are worried that agricultural produce will take a big hit following the reduction of the Cauvery share. But will the verdict also affect those living in Chennai? The problem…

It is sad, but common knowledge today that the city’s sewage ultimately ends up in the nearest lake or water body. In principle, the sewage from our homes should go to the pumping station via an underground sewerage connection. From the pumping station, this sewage should travel to the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), the primary function of which is to treat the sewage water through aerators, clarifiers etc. A study conducted by Arappor Iyakkam shows that untreated sewage water from different parts of the city are being let out in the three rivers—Adyar, Cooum and Kosasthalaiyar, apart from the lakes…