The Hindu : Kerala News : Check-dams and mini-projects

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Check-dams and mini-projects

Check-dams and mini-projects

Sir, — For the last two years, the State has been fraught with a drought-like situation and drinking water scarcity during summer. Though there are appropriate remedies, the Government and its engineers do not appear to be serious. It is essential to have water literacy among the authorities as well as the people.

Blessed with southwest and northeast monsoons, the State receives 3,000 mm of rain a year. The annual discharge from all the rivers in the State is estimated at 72,000 million cubic metres of water. Only 8 per cent of this water is stored in reservoirs. The rest drains into the Arabian Sea. In fact, we are not utilising the available water resources pragmatically.

A strong people's movement should be launched to create awareness about the water resources in the State.

As far as Kerala is concerned, water has three main purposes — drinking, hydropower generation and irrigation. Also, water is the main requisite for sanitation. The Rural Development Department has started a `total sanitation programme' in the State. While implementing it, utmost care should be given to the promotion of clean water.

But the authorities consider water as a commercial commodity only. Without changing this concept we could not change the present state of affairs. It is high time our local self-governments rose up to the occasion. We are not fully tapping the rainfall and hydropower prospects. There should be sincere efforts on the part of the administration to speed up projects. The State requires low-cost project. Recently, some Chinese experts on mini-micro-hydropower visited the State. There is vast scope for mini-micro-hydropower generation along the 44 rivers here.

Check-dams are essential for ensuring drinking water supply and mini-micro-hydropower generation. Engineering colleges and research institutions should show more interest in these efforts. The Planning Board and panchayats should take interest in building check-dams.

In the present circumstances, check-dams and mini-micro-hydropower generation are the most efficient, cheapest and appropriate technology for the conservation of water resources here.

Local self-government institutions should come forward to encourage people to set up check-dams. Under the three-tier panchayat system, there is plenty of scope for taking up and realising these projects.

The trial conducted in the Bahrathapuzha can be replicated successfully in other rivers also. Environmentalists should not take a stand against check-dams as they do against major dams. Check-dams are most environment-friendly.

T.N.N. Bhattathiripad,

Chief Engineer (Retd.), Kerala Water Authority.

Interest rates

Sir, — Pensioners deposit the money they get on retirement in banks and draw the interest monthly or quarterly. But now since the interest rates on deposits have been reduced considerably, the pensioners and other old-aged people find it very difficult to pull on their lives. The returns they get as interest have fallen down very much.

It is the duty of the Central Government to direct the Reserve Bank of India to pay reasonable rates of interest on the deposits of senior citizens.

The Central and State Governments are paying higher rates of interest on the loans they have taken from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank when compared to the interest rates they offer to their senior citizens. Hence why can't they pay reasonable rates of interest on deposits of senior citizens?

V.G. Balakrishnan,

Thiruvananthapruam.

Chief Engineer (Retd.), Kerala Water Authority.

Interest rates

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