The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Madurai News : Where is all the rainwater going?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 30, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Where is all the rainwater going?

Staff Reporter

Water management the key and not a heavy monsoon, say experts Water management is the key. not just a heavy monsoon

MADURAI: The monsoon blame game in the State must be stopped if more dangerous and precarious seasons have to be avoided as only poor water management has often been found to be the reason for water scarcity than the volume of rainfall received during a year. This was the common view expressed at a gathering of water management and irrigation experts who called for an action plan whose momentum had to be sustained to avert a water crisis for irrigation and drinking.

"It is all about demand-supply management. We received a heavy rainfall recently but where did it (the water) go is the basic question. So, a stepped up water conservation strategy would yield solutions rather than cursing the clouds," R.K. Sivanappan, international consultant on irrigation, said at the `Water management for the future' discussion organised by the Rotary Club of Madurai Downtown here recently.

He emphasises that an awareness of efficient management of irrigation water was still low in the districts and several farmers are far from understanding the concept. The expert says that leakages and wastage in distribution of water was a sign of poor water management as 35 per cent of irrigation water was wasted through leakages. According to him, the immediate need was to step up water harvesting methods across the State "and we need numerous check dams, percolation tanks, farm ponds, contour bunding, vegetative barriers and contour trenching" for this.

Israel is a good lesson in water management as the farmers/people were directly involved in conservation efforts, he said. "It has to be understood that water management is needed not only in low rainfall areas but also those (areas) with very high rainfall." Cherrapunji receives 11,000 mm of rainfall a year while Kerala gets 3,000 mm and still there is no water management there. However, areas like Ralegeon Siddhi in Maharashtra, which gets 450 mm of rainfall, stands out in water management, he said. Irrigation drinks the major share of the available water at 85 per cent, while industry and drinking water take up 5 per cent each. Tamil Nadu has an annual rainfall of 923 mm.

Another water expert, A. Mohanakrishnan, who is an advisor on water resources to the State Government, said water is not important just for irrigation and farming; "even the health security of a country depends on potable water." Others who called for a concrete policy were A.C. Kamaraj, Chairman of the National Waterways Development Council, and R. Vijayabasker, District Environmental Engineer. The seminar chairman, M. Sanmugasundaram, suggested the formation of a channel between the Idukki reservoir and Vaigai on the lines of the link between the Periyar and Vaigai.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section

Constructive idea biding its time to materialise

Inclusion of `video pirates' under Goondas Act valid: Madurai Bench

Where is all the rainwater going?

BSNL to cover areas left out of WLL service by March next

Indian Airlines reschedules flights

Around the City

In Madurai Today