The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Concerned citizens form water forum

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 11, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Concerned citizens form water forum

Kannal Achuthan

The platform will work towards accountable and sustainable water supply strategies for Chennai

Chennai: A group of citizens, concerned about water issues in Chennai, has come together to build a platform for discussion and debate.

The core group that was formed on November 5 comprises a diverse range of members - academicians, activists and NGO representatives. They have started a web group through Google called chennaiwaterforum, which makes it easy for members to be in touch.

About 20 members form the team, including Nityanand Jayaraman from the Corporate Accountability Desk; S. Janakarajan, professor at Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS); Bharath Jairaj of Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG) and T.K. Ramkumar of Exnora.

"The platform will work towards accountable and sustainable water supply strategies for Chennai," said Karen Coelho, co-ordinator of the forum. A workshop on desalination is scheduled for December 10 at the MIDS.

Gregor Meerganz, a desalination research scholar from the University of Barcelona, will present a case study of the proposed 100 million litres per day seawater desalination plant to come up in Minjur.

The seminar will also discuss alternative methods of ensuring water availability for Chennai."We want to start off as an awareness forum and grow into an action forum," said Mr. Ramkumar, Exnora principal advisor.

For more details, call Karen Coelho at 98840-30663.

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