Framework for resolving urban water crisis: a case of Chennai

Abstract

Water is life for all living organisms present on the earth. Nearly, two-thirds of the earth’s surface is covered with water, but only 1% of it is fresh water. Water crisis is an emerging issue in India. In India, due to rapid growth of urban population, there is an increase in demand for water in urban areas. India’s water crisis problem is likely to worsen as the population is set to increase to 1.6 billion by 2050. The report published by NITI Aayog “Composite national management index” which mentioned that the country is suffering from worst water crisis in history and about 600 million people or 45% of Indian population suffers from high to severe water crisis. The report also predicted that 21 cities will run out of ground water by 2020 and 6% of India’s GDP will decline due to water crisis. The main issues regarding water in urban areas are pressure on water sources, distribution and water loss issues and water contamination. Chennai has been a water surplus metropolitan a decade ago. There are multiple government departments and agencies that govern/ manage the water resources in Chennai – the Public Works Department, the Chennai Municipal Corporation, the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), the Chennai River Restoration Trust and the State Wetland Authority and Hindu Religious and Endowment Department (HR&EB). Due to urbanization activities like construction of highways, airports there has been a decrease in 24% of agricultural land which in turn has affected the ground water table of Chennai. During the last decade, Chennai had lost 33% of wetlands due to encroachment done to expand urban settlements. The main source of water supply for Chennai are three rivers the Cooyum, the Adyar, and the Kosthalaiyar and all these three rivers are polluted due to sewage and waste dumped into these rivers. Most of today’s Chennai water supply is dependent on water tankers and municipal supply for daily requirement of water. People have to stand in queues near water tankers for water. In 2019 summer, Tamilnadu has 41% rainfall shortage. The city was alsoaffected economically as hotels, restaurants were closed due to water shortage and IT Companies asked their employees to work from home. In 2019, Chennai has suffered from water crisis where all the city’s water has been totally dried up. Chennai is dependent on four major reservoirs for water supply. They are Poondi, Chembarambakkam, Cholavaram and Red hills. During the time of crisis all these reservoirs have been totally dried up. Chennai has declared “day zero” indicating there has been no water left in the city to supply. Chennai is the second city in the world to declare day zero after Cape Town which also experienced similar water crisis. The water supply sources of the city are studied dividing into four divisions. Physical water sources which include rivers and reservoirs and the amount of water supplied through these sources. Technological means of water supply like Desalination plants, Sewerage treatment plants and waste water reuse. The usage levels of ground water in the city is studied as Chennai is losing its ground water source. Ecological sources of water where the wet fields and watershed of Chennai is studied. The water supply and demand gap analysis is done. Using City water balance the pressure points on the sources is found out. A socio-economic survey is conducted in the Zone-5 of Chennai Municipal Corporation to know how the people reacted during water crisis and how water is supplied to their houses. The reasons for water crisis are found through consultation of various government offices, Primary and secondary sources. The reasons for water crisis are divided into three parts. They are Institutional causes, Socio-economic causes and Environmental causes. Many studies are going on to resolve water crisis in Chennai and developing strategies for management of water in Chennai is need of an hour. Strategies adopted by officials of Chennai officials are reviewed to extent of work done by officials to mitigate water crisis. There has been a distinct lack of attention to water legislation, water conservation, efficiency in water use, water recycling, and infrastructure. Strategies related to development of water sheds, improving storage of surface water and recharging ground water can be a solution for water crisis. An immediate solution to India’s water crisis is to change water management practices by regulating usage with effective legislation. Chennai suffers from physical waterscarcity so there is a need to introduce more sources of water supply using technology. The proposals are developed as short term strategies and Long term strategies as Chennai would once again face water crisis in the coming future. Future Water demand forecasting is done to know the water demand status in the coming years. To construct a Framework the proposals are divided based on water sources supplying water to Chennai like Natural water sources, Technological, Ecological, Institutional reccommendations.