A few months ago, there was widespread uproar over attempts to convert a small part of the Pallikaranai Marshland in South Chennai into multi-storey apartments. Yet today, the equally vital Nemmeli coastal wetland in Chengalpattu district faces silent destruction. Richer in biodiversity and livelihood support than Pallikaranai, the Nemmeli wetland, also known as the “Great Salt Lake,” is being converted into a freshwater reservoir by the Tamil Nadu government, purportedly to boost drinking water supply to Chennai. But the project spells disaster. Phase one of the Mamallan Reservoir project involves acquiring more than 5,000 acres of land, removing topsoil, and…
Another insightful article.
I have couple of suggestion to add. In many apartment complexes, the cost of water (whether due to tanker supply or bore water or Cauvery) is a shared cost. This cost is normally recovered as a part of maintenance fee from residents, which is normally a function of area of the individual apartment. There is *no* billing based on actual usage.
If we want to start looking at water as a precious resource, we need to also enforce metering and charging based on usage, at an individual apartment level. Otherwise, it will be a tale of tragedy of commons – with no incentive for reduced water usage/wastage and no penalties for excess usage.
For usage of bore-wells and rain-water harvesting, again similar principles should be applied. Water drawn from bore-well must be charged on metered basis (at a cost lesser than what is charged for Cauvery) and rain-water harvested should be rewarded monetarily (similar to how one can earn money today by supplying solar power to the grid).
We need to rejuvenate all the lakes in and around Bangalore some more lakes which are large and can help us with quenching the water issue if we dont act now this city will be a ghost city without water.
– Jigani Lake
– Hulimangala Lake
– Bedduru Kere Lake
– 4 Lakes in Bannerghatta Area
– Gottigere Lake
– Arekere Lake